pay it forward

I have been inspired by another blogger, the awesome & widely-read Crabmommy, who recently turned her blog over to daily auctions to help two very deserving families. You can check them out here and here. I was lucky enough to win two auctions of cool stuff and help out at the same time.

If you're like me, you can't help but worry about the families caught up in the aftermath of terrible storms like Hurricane Ike or Katrina. Of course you can make a donation, if it's in your budget, to a charity that will give aid, but I think it's nice to be able to do something more direct.

Well here's your chance...
A neighbor's sister, Jane, is from the Galveston area. Her family (which includes a young toddler) lost everything. They came to stay with their family here for awhile and were very moved by neighbors (via notice from our very active town message board) helping out by donating all sorts of baby gear, toys, clothes etc. for them. In fact, Jane is so moved that she has decided to try to help her TX gulf coast neighbors. Here is a recent note she had posted by her sister here:

"I got a Verizon Wireless card - so I have internet access now. There is still no TV or internet access any other way in my area. We have power (thank God) and they are starting demo and debris removal of our area. It is quite a mess here. John, Johnny & I have found a home to rent on our island next door to our rental home. It is small but nice and good for Johnny to be stable and not floating from hotel to hotel far from his daycare and places he is familiar with. We are lucky. Some folks are not. None of the FEMA voucher hotels are vacant and many people are living in their cars and tents. It is sad. Really sad. American Red Cross comes around 3 times a day with food and water. They are a fantastic organization. Salvation Army as well. They are providing people with clothes and getting them into shelters.

Please thank all the wonderful and kind people who gave to us. I can never thank them all enough for their generosity, thoughts and prayers. We'll get through this and those awesome MOL people have made it easier for my family to do it. Thank you all. I am setting up a donation center here for baby stuff and children for folks who have nothing. Absolutely anything is appreciated."

Send donations of clean, usable items to:

Jane Patin
660 Pine Road,
Clear Lake Shores, TX 77565.

Also, if you're local, her sister will be sending donated items too. I'll put you in touch if you like.

So this could be a great thing...having a garage sale is a drag (imho)...this is a way to make space in your home and feel good about passing on the things you enjoyed but no longer need to people, people with little kids like yours and mine, who have nothing.

Of course you can also click on any of the above links and make a donation to the people and organizations that speak to your heart. We are entering a period of tough times and I really believe that if we try to keep our hearts open and look out for each other it will be so much easier for all of us.

Are you with me?

Thanks for considering helping out.

one of those small miracles

Ike evacuee gives birth in New Braunfels

An evacuee from Hurricane Ike gave birth in the bathroom of a shelter Friday with the aide of an expert in geriatric psychiatry who delivered his first baby in two decades.

"It's kind of like riding a bike," Dr. Mark Burns told the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung in a report for Saturday's newspaper.

Ku Paw delivered a baby girl on the floor of the girls restroom at Church Hill Middle School in New Braunfels with the aid of Burns, intensive care nurse Peggy Bielke and a few volunteers.

Paw, an evacuee from Calhoun County along the Texas coast, was staying with about 270 others. She was evaluated at a hospital earlier Friday but returned to the shelter with the expectation she wouldn't go into labor until Monday.

Burns had been asked by New Braunfels City Councilwoman Kathleen Krueger to stop by the school and see a few patients. Burns said he was leaving when he was alerted that Paw was in labor.

"There are few things more exciting than delivering a new life into the world," Burns said. "It's one of the great privileges of being a physician."

The mother and the infant, her fourth child, were taken to CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital-New Braunfels. A hospital spokeswoman told The Associated Press on Friday night that she could not release any information about them.

Ike: what about the birthing women?

Whenever I hear about an impending disaster, I always think about the women who are very pregnant, in labor or newly postpartum...and of course, the babies.
Ugh - the news on Hurricane Ike looks terrible.

To remind myself that small miracles happen, I'm remembering back to the story that got me through my own second labor: the woman in Mozambique who labored and birthed in a tree while flood waters raged. For my whole labor, I kept thinking, I can do this - if that woman could give birth in a tree during a flood, I can labor in this tub.

I'm hoping for a big miracle for the Gulf Coast of Texas...but if a big miracle doesn't happen (and it looks like it won't) then I pray for many small ones. I will hold good thoughts for everyone in Ike's path, with special prayers for the birthing women and babies.