"We always think someone else is going to do it,' he said. 'I feel like everyone is so caught up in the American dream of having all the shiny stuff that we don't even know our neighbors. The distractions are always there"
We're all pretty frustrated with our inability to work, and attitudes and tempers are displaying this, but with any luck we'll be over that hurdle tomorrow. I'm sure much of the tension will be broken after we get some food, rest, and some work to keep us busy. Can't wait to see BonaResponds!!
Love and peace from MS,
Laura"
I suppose since Mahar isn't here to do the blogging for me I wil have to give it a shot. The First Baptist Church of Olean has been working with BonaResponds to coordinate a trip to the Gluf Coast. On Thursday, December 2nd, 11 volunteers set out for Pass Christian, MS. I can't say much about the first couple hours of the trip because I was asleep, but I hear we ran into a bit of snow. Around 9:30 we stopped for breakfast in Erie.
The drive was more mundane than I care to talk about, and I'm sure than you care to hear about. Around 10:30 we got to Nashville, TN where we rented hotel rooms. The wake-up call came way too early, but by 8AM we had already had breakfast, devotions, and were on the road again. Besides a quick pit-stop for gas and lunch, we drove straight from Nashville to Pass Christian. We pulled into Randy's around 6:30, unpacked, got a quicke tour of the facilities, and headed across the newly finished bridge into Bay St. Loius fr dinner.
Although this is my 3rd time at Randy's I still got excited when we pulled in. It has been amazing to watch the place progress since our first time here a year ago. The kitchen/dining hall now has a pantry added onto it, the walls that Cindy, Mike, Terry and I painted white have now been decorated with inspirational and entertaining sayings and drawings from various groups, there are about 40 signs hanging in front of the camp (where BonaRespond's was the first!), and Randy and Deb's trailer has a garden.
It was nice to see Randy again, but he seems pretty drained. I think he's glad he's getting out. Even though he is a little rough around the edges, there is no denying that the guy does good work and has helped countless "prisoners of Katrina." I hope the camp does so well after he leaves.
After dinner in BSL we got some groceries, and headed back to Randy's for devotionals. The message focused on keeping a servant's heart, an open mind, and being flexible. About half of us are between 17 ad 25 years old, and the rest are between 45 and 65, so the group dynamic is fairly interesting. We have one man who ran a business doing extremely detailed woodworking (about as intricate as building watches) and at least 3 people with virtually no construction experience. However, everyone is very eager to work hard so I'm sure everything will work out.
A trip to the Gulf Coast has yet to be a catstrophy yet, so here's hoping!
-Laura
"A group of young people from Mississippi -- victims of Hurricane Katrina -- drove all the way to Kansas in the summer just to provide a crawfish feed for the folks in Greensburg. On July 4, the PigMasters -- a group of barbecuers from North Carolina -- hosted a reunion for all the displaced residents and roasted 10 pigs for the town.Also there was a nice NPR show on Greensburg.
A high school student from Enterprise, Ala., who survived a tornado that ripped apart his high school and killed eight students, drove to Greensburg with a load of 500 or so books because he read that the Kansas school lost its library. Getting the books for Greensburg was his Eagle Scout project."
"But it wasn't the money; everyone said so. It was something else, something far less tangible but yet so very real. For seven weeks an almost magical sense of excitement and energy and camaraderie infused the elegant red-brick church on Bell Street, spilling over into homes and hearts as the parable of the talents came alive.
In her sun-filled studio on Strawberry Lane, Shirley Culbertson felt it _ a joyful sense of purpose that she had rarely experienced since her husband passed two years ago....
Church members who never knew each other have become friends"
I spoke to Lynn and we figured it would cost between $200 – $300 to get the floor done. So whatever anyone would like to contribute towards that would be fantastic. The inspector is coming out tomorrow and we may still need some wiring done in the kitchen. Rob may not be able to come back to finish as he has something to do for a church that he promised would be done before Christmas. I guess he is being spread real thin right now as well. Lynn is picking up the lighting and the countertops for the kitchen this week. Once we get the go ahead on the wiring I can call a guy who will call his friends and they can do the dry wall, mud and taping (if given enough notice). Lynn is still trying to get the family in the house by Christmas as long as it is safe to do so. If the flooring isn’t done, that’s ok as long as they have a fairly decent functioning kitchen. We can work around the rest after Christmas.
Kitchen items is what I am thinking they need.Things of that nature would be fantastic.
BonaResponds Art Auction
When in Ohio after the flood, Clarence Austin donated some of his paintings to us. The artwork will be auctioned off and the proceeds split between BonaResponds and Mr. Austin.
In addition to teh artwork from Ohio, several local artists and even one who we worked with in Mississippi have donated paintings.
The auction will be at 7pm this Friday in the Hall of Fame Room in the Reilly Center.
It is free and open to all. (While you do not need to, a RSVP would DEFINITELY help us plan food etc. We have ZERO idea how many will attend. Email BonaResponds@sbu.edu
You can also see the pictures and bid online (sort of) at BonaRespond.org
________
Also remember we are going to work in Franklinville this Sunday. We'd love to have more volunteers there! We will leave the Murphy Parking lot at 10:00. We hope to arrive back home around 3:00. The work is inside so we can go even if it is snowy.
________
"“We hope to raise $25,000. When people tell me it is a lot of money, I have to correct them,” said Mahar. “It is a lot of money if we were asking just one person to pay it, but if we get many people, then it is really a very little amount of money. When we are in the field working, I often remind the volunteers that ‘many hands make light work.’ The same is true with respect to fundraising."
"Volunteers are giving a Franklinville family a wonderful gift this holiday season. Complete strangers spent their Saturday fixing up a home for the Krytus family who lost their previous home to a fire the day after Thanksgiving"
"Ms. Krytus said her fiance is still heavily sedated and recently contracted pneumonia and a slight blood infection. He also has had two skin grafts. Little Jesse is also working on his recovery and has a daily whirlpool bath treatment at the hospital. Surgeons are discussing the possibility of a skin graft for his right leg.
In the meantime, Mr. Horbacz's aunt, Lynn Rosinski of Franklinville, has set up a bank account to help the young couple with their expenses."
"During the university's five-day October break, BonaResponds traveled to Bucyrus to aid flood victims. Here, the group met Clarence Austin, an 83-year-old World War II veteran."
"There isn't much left of the two-story home on Route 98 South in the Cattaraugus County town of Franklinville where a father and his son were injured in a devastating fire. State police say 29-year-old Jesse Horbacz managed to get out of the house with his two-and-a-half-year-old boy...."We will be leaving at 10:00 AM on Sunday. We have reserved a University van. Hopefully we we will be back to campus around 3 pm so you can still study.
We have a van etc., but if you want to meet us there, that is fine too. We will have hot chocolate etc but dress warm!"Sharon Krytus owned a house on 98 South in Franklinville. She and her
two boys [and} along with her daughter Sherry were in NYC for the
Thanksgiving weekend.
While they were gone Sherry's future husband Jesse, Sr and their son Jesse,
Jr were in the house when it caught fire. Jesse, Sr. searched to
find his son in the fire. The fire dept said that it looked like he had
gone in and out of the house at least 2 times. They could see where he
came out and rolled in the snow/dirt to get the fire off of him. He did
get his son out.
Jesse, Jr received 15% burns on his body. He was released from
Children's hospital last week and is now going through
whirlpool treatments. Jesse, Sr is at ECMC with 45% burns on
his body and has 2 skin grafts so far. He will be in the hospital for a
long time. Jesse,Sr and Sherry had recently bought a bankruptcy house
on Morgan Hollow and Oliver. Jesse was going to renovate it.
We are trying to get the money and materials [and volunteers] together for this rehab
and are praying daily that God will provide.
Directions: Take 5 mile to rte 16 towards Franklinville. Turn left onto
98 South. Go down 5 or so miles (This is not exact).
Morgan Hollow is shortly after the Town of Humphrey sign on the right
hand side. Turn right. Oliver does not have a street sign, but it is
the first right. We are hoping to get some signs made up. We will be
starting about 9 but what ever time you get there is fine.
Thank you so much for your help.
Mary"
There was some really good TV coverage on Channel 2, here is a link.
Watch the video!
Stop and imagine this for a second: trapped in a fire but not leaving.
Looking around in the burning heat for your young son. Running out for
air and then rolling around in the snow to put out the fire.
then going BACK in. wow. What a hero!
"BonaResponds will auction these paintings, along with others from local artists. There will be a total of approximately 20 paintings, with many starting at $100. Interested bidders may also offer sealed bids online in advance. (An online page, with previews of the paintings being auctioned, will be established at www.bonaresponds.org a few days before the auction.)....“Of course we want to help Clarence,” said Jim Mahar, Ph.D., founder and leader of BonaResponds and assistant finance professor at St. Bonaventure. “And we want to help any of the thousands of families still waiting for housing across the Gulf. And we want to help more locally as well. Unfortunately, this all takes money. We have to strike a balance between all of these.”
“One of the hardest things I do is to say, ‘No, I am sorry, we can not help on such and such a project because we can not afford to do it.’ That is not a position I want to be in,” said Mahar. “Events like this are designed to assure that that doesn’t happen.”"
"Mission: Holiday Hope In this one hour special, Robert will have less than seven hours to cook dinner for 1000 residents and volunteers of Biloxi--but there's more to this mission than just cooking food. This dinner is also a welcome home for one Biloxi resident who has been waiting to see her home for two years!"
