Lynn Meadows, Slidell, Louisiana, Day 2 Nov. 22 Tuesday
11/22/2005 17:19
United
Peace Relief Slidell, Louisiana Day 2 Nov. 22 Tuesday
Early in the morning we took off to Biloxi and Waveland Mississippi. The devastation in these areas is overwhelming. It goes on for a hundred miles. Imagine that a town the size of Santa Rosa was pretty much destroyed, houses off foundations, piles of debris everywhere. Business closed down. Mile after mile.
We visited the Buddhist Temple in Biloxi, where Richard from Burning Man has been rebuilding the temple with 20 other volunteers. They have a big dome and some shelters donated by Pacific Domes, everyone is camping out in the parking lot. The temple is looking good and they are getting ready to move on to another project. They have heavy equipment to move large piles of debris and they are in big demand. He states the land is worth so much for golf courses and resorts that people are losing their property against their will. He volunteered to help us and loan us a shelter for our United Peace Relief encampment in Slidell.
We met with Eric from Can-Do, a non profit that he started last year when he went to help with the Tsunami disaster is Asia. Thanksgiving is 2 days away so today he is organizing the loading of two trucks of supplies and food to be delivered over the holiday to Plackman Parish, they have had little immense damage and little attention since the storm. He has been helping with the reconstruction and is interested in bringing his volunteers to stay at our land in Slidell, they need to raise funds somehow and get the word out, because they are running out of money.
We visited the Waveland Cafe in Waveland, Mississippi. This is an incredible place supported by the Rainbow Family. They set up in a parking lot and have been serving between 1000 and 1500 meals per day since soon after Katrina hit in September. They also have a big dome full of tables for people to sit and eat. They set up an internet cafe, free clinic, and huge kitchen. Everything is done on donations from organic food suppliers, churches and private citizens. There is a distribution center, free store in the same lot run by a church. People are driving their shopping carts by and filling up with what they need. We ate lunch there, so delicious and nutritious and served by happy volunteers giving out nutrition advice and lots of love.
I have been worrying about how we are going to afford to feed our volunteers two meals per day at our camp in Slidell for the next year. We talked with Aaron from the Rainbow Family and he told me that they have spent about $6000 in the past 3 months feeding people 3 meals per day. I found that to be so amazing, it gave me a flood of faith that United Peace Relief can do it too. It reminded me of the story of the fishes and the loaves and I found peace that I do not need to have fear, it will happen.
Back to the camp, we got our beautiful United Peace Relief Banner up to show people the way in to camp. Bob and Shannon helped Carol to fix the plumbing, get the bathroom sink going, set up the indoor kitchen and the final feat by flashlight was repair of the hot water heater. We sat around the fire once again it was cold, but we are happy and feel great about our accomplishments for this day.
Early in the morning we took off to Biloxi and Waveland Mississippi. The devastation in these areas is overwhelming. It goes on for a hundred miles. Imagine that a town the size of Santa Rosa was pretty much destroyed, houses off foundations, piles of debris everywhere. Business closed down. Mile after mile.
We visited the Buddhist Temple in Biloxi, where Richard from Burning Man has been rebuilding the temple with 20 other volunteers. They have a big dome and some shelters donated by Pacific Domes, everyone is camping out in the parking lot. The temple is looking good and they are getting ready to move on to another project. They have heavy equipment to move large piles of debris and they are in big demand. He states the land is worth so much for golf courses and resorts that people are losing their property against their will. He volunteered to help us and loan us a shelter for our United Peace Relief encampment in Slidell.
We met with Eric from Can-Do, a non profit that he started last year when he went to help with the Tsunami disaster is Asia. Thanksgiving is 2 days away so today he is organizing the loading of two trucks of supplies and food to be delivered over the holiday to Plackman Parish, they have had little immense damage and little attention since the storm. He has been helping with the reconstruction and is interested in bringing his volunteers to stay at our land in Slidell, they need to raise funds somehow and get the word out, because they are running out of money.
We visited the Waveland Cafe in Waveland, Mississippi. This is an incredible place supported by the Rainbow Family. They set up in a parking lot and have been serving between 1000 and 1500 meals per day since soon after Katrina hit in September. They also have a big dome full of tables for people to sit and eat. They set up an internet cafe, free clinic, and huge kitchen. Everything is done on donations from organic food suppliers, churches and private citizens. There is a distribution center, free store in the same lot run by a church. People are driving their shopping carts by and filling up with what they need. We ate lunch there, so delicious and nutritious and served by happy volunteers giving out nutrition advice and lots of love.
I have been worrying about how we are going to afford to feed our volunteers two meals per day at our camp in Slidell for the next year. We talked with Aaron from the Rainbow Family and he told me that they have spent about $6000 in the past 3 months feeding people 3 meals per day. I found that to be so amazing, it gave me a flood of faith that United Peace Relief can do it too. It reminded me of the story of the fishes and the loaves and I found peace that I do not need to have fear, it will happen.
Back to the camp, we got our beautiful United Peace Relief Banner up to show people the way in to camp. Bob and Shannon helped Carol to fix the plumbing, get the bathroom sink going, set up the indoor kitchen and the final feat by flashlight was repair of the hot water heater. We sat around the fire once again it was cold, but we are happy and feel great about our accomplishments for this day.