BLANKET DELIVERY UPDATE
and TRAVELOGUE -
December 17, 2005
Dear Friends,
I had the privilege of delivering your blankets yesterday (Saturday, December 17) and I must tell you that it was a life-changing experience. Below is the story of our travels, with links to several photos.
We entered Louisiana via I-10 at 9:00 Saturday morning and traveled toward Lake Charles. Along the way we saw a lot of wind damage in Beaumont and Orange (Texas), and of course some in Lake Charles as well. After looking at the map we decided to take Highway 27 south toward the Gulf coast [map of the area]. I had the naive thought that we would drive along and find people working on their houses and we would stop and give them blankets. Boy was I clueless.
On Highway 27 approximately 15 miles from the coast we came to a checkpoint and explained that we had blankets to deliver to hurricane victims. The guard thought about it for a moment and then let us through. (I discovered later that he was NOT supposed to let us into the area. Whew!) Very soon after the checkpoint we passed over a large bridge that took us over the Intracoastal Waterway and as soon as we came down from the bridge we were at sea level and we began to see a lot of debris in the marshes. The closer we drove to the coast, the more debris we saw -- lumber, parts of roofs, appliances, boats, etc. We soon came to a small town called Creole and we were all eerily quiet as we realized that there was nothing left here and there wouldn't be anyone to give blankets to. There was no rebuilding going on for two reasons: (1) there was nothing left to rebuild and (2) residents weren't allowed back into the area yet. I cannot describe the devastation we saw -- hopefully my photos will give you some small sense of the chaos. There were whole houses near the shoulder of the road, cars in the bayou, buildings with corners and roof tops but nothing else, appliances scattered about, trailers turned upside down, and so much more.
We decided to head west on Highway 82 toward the larger town of Cameron to see if we could find anyone there. We'd encountered a few cars that seemed to be coming and going from that direction, so we were hopeful. All along the way we continued to see the same kind of massive destruction. Many homes were completely gone except for the front steps and the foundation. Outside of Cameron we encountered an EMS "station" in a new trailer -- we were happy to finally meet people and give away some blankets!! We gave about 20 blankets to the folks we encountered here, including blankets for the children and babies of the workers' families. One of the EMS guys told us that his house was completely gone - he couldn't fine a scrap of it. The EMS folks directed us further down the road to the Court House -- the only building that was standing and usable, so we continued on.
In "downtown" Cameron, we found the Court House, which was serving as the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for Cameron Parish. We first spoke to the volunteers in the Red Cross van, who gave us some snacks. That was a good thing because it was past lunch time and we hadn't thought to bring food on our trek (not knowing that there would be complete destruction and therefore no restaurants). Inside the EOC we spoke with Chief Master Sergeant John M. Harris who gets a big THANK YOU from our family. We explained what we were there for and he helped set the wheels in motion. Earlier that week all of the government relief workers in the area had taken up a collection to buy toys for children in the area. Later that afternoon they were going to be giving away those toys to any family who arrived at Sweet Lake United Methodist Church. This was perfect -- a location where we could reach a lot of people at one time! Chief Harris facilitated everything for us by calling the toy deliverers and then giving us their cell phone numbers and directions to the church (which was further north away from the water destruction).
We reached the church just as Santa finished giving out the toys, so we opened our U-Haul and started carrying in bags of blankets. As soon as we could get bags open we were giving away blankets right and left. I was so happy to be able to put blankets into the hands of people who had been affected by the destruction I'd witnessed all day. We handed blankets to the kids first and then I began giving blankets to the adults who were so surprised that we had blankets for them too. (And extra surprised that the blankets were from all over the United States!) I was encouraging people to take more than one if they needed it and to be sure and get one for their other family members and neighbors who couldn't be there. I was so proud of the fabulous array of blankets we had to offer! It was great to see the kids choosing a blanket that was just right for them. And the same thing for the adults -- they could choose one in the colors and fabric or yarn that suited them. It was such a small thing to offer blankets to people who have nothing, but it still felt wonderful.
After everyone left, we still had quite a few blankets left and the pastor of the church approached me. He showed me that in the church gymnasium they had a whole "store" (all free!) set up -- tables of cleaning supplies, clothing, water, toys, and much more. In the last week he'd served over 340 people and expected to keep helping people at the same pace, but he was almost completely out of blankets. We decided to leave our remaining blankets with him because he definitely seemed to be helping the people who needed them most. In the next few weeks, they're going to open up the Cameron area to residents again and he will be aiding many more people.
In conclusion -- I just cannot convey to all of you what an honor it was to deliver these blankets for you. I was so moved and touched by what I saw. I honestly had no idea that the area we were visiting had been hit so hard. (I must have missed those news stories?) It seemed like all of the Hurricane Rita information focused on the fact that it bypassed Houston and Galveston but I didn't understand the scale of destruction from the storm surge along that area of the coast, not to mention the winds.
Many, many thanks to all of you blanket makers -- you helped make a difference with your time and talents.
Very sincerely,
Heather Foeh
{P.S. - For more information about the Cameron area, you can visit www.CameronRecovery.com - a website run by the Emergency Operations Center.}
