A
Anonymous
Guest
This is how positive PR is used . . . recruitment and fund raising. These people are the professionals.
http://www.redcross.org/article/0,1072, ... 41,00.html
Finding a New Home and a New Purpose
Floods uprooted Bonnie Oldham’s house, but she hopes to find a new home in the Red Cross
By Stephanie Carter, Disaster Volunteer, Rappahannock (Va.) Chapter
Tuesday, September 11, 2007 — Bonnie Oldham was sound asleep in her bed, exhausted from a long day of working outdoors. It was Sunday, August 19, and heavy rain was falling outside, as it had been across southeastern Minnesota since Saturday evening.
At 11:20 p.m., Bonnie’s husband, Roger, awakened her and told her that their town, Stockton, was being evacuated. But by the time the couple started heading for the door, it was too late. Water from a drainage ditch adjacent to their home had already overflowed its banks and was lapping over the front porch.
Roger decided it would be safest for them to climb onto the roof. But when he tried to open the door, he couldn’t budge it an inch. The house was shifting on its foundation, and the doors were jammed shut.
While Roger fought to open the door, Bonnie awakened her 72-year-old mother, Audrey Ellinghuysen, who has on-set Alzheimer’s disease. Bonnie helped her mother gather her medications and a change of clothes.
Suddenly, both Bonnie’s and Roger’s cell phones rang. Bonnie’s son was calling to say he was heading to Stockton, but she told him it was too late; Roger’s son was also calling, and Roger explained that he and Bonnie were stuck in the house. During these hurried conversations, both phone lines went dead.
Finally, Roger succeeded in prying open the door. He and Audrey tried to use a glass patio table to gain access to the roof, but the glass shattered, so they dragged a desk and nightstand out of the house and stacked the furniture. Roger boosted Bonnie and Audrey onto the roof, after which Bonnie reached down, grabbed her husband, and pulled him up.
Roger, exhausted, began gasping for air. Bonnie realized he didn’t have his nitrogen pills, which he takes for a heart condition. Bonnie quickly climbed down from the roof and re-entered her home.
She saw her frightened cat, Sylvester, sitting on the bed. She knew she couldn’t take him with her, so she put him on the shelf in the closet. “I told him, ‘Wait until Mama comes to get you,’” Bonnie said.
She grabbed two quilts and ran out the door, forgetting the nitrogen pills. Roger pulled her up onto the roof and wouldn’t let her go back down—a decision that probably saved her life.
“A wall of water was heading towards us,” Bonnie says. “The sound was deafening.”
Clinging to Each Other
They heard a loud snap and thought it was a tree branch breaking, but it was something much more dangerous—their house was ripping away from its foundation. As if in slow motion, the house started moving with the current.
“Here we go!” Roger yelled.
“We knew we were in for a ride,” Bonnie said. “We were level with the treetops and had to duck under the power lines.”
The water carried their house a few blocks until it ground to a halt on some railroad tracks. Had they traveled a few more feet, they would have been dragged under the elevated tracks and into some nearby woods.
It was now almost 1:00 in the morning. In the darkness they clung to each other, using the quilts to shelter themselves from the rain. They heard strange popping and hissing sounds and realized they were surrounded by gas tanks.
Finally, more than six hours after Roger awakened Bonnie, the three survivors were discovered and rescued by firefighters and a local resident. They were taken by airboat to a waiting ambulance and transported to Community Memorial Hospital in Winona, where they were told the American Red Cross had listed them as missing.
A family friend, Amy Weston, took the three to the Red Cross shelter at St. Mary’s University. A Red Cross volunteer told Bonnie her son had called 10 minutes earlier, desperately trying to locate his family. The Red Cross immediately called her son back and put them in touch with each other.
“The Red Cross volunteer instantly said, ‘Tell us what you need,’” Bonnie said. “Roger needed medication and they made sure he got it.”
The three rested at the shelter until family arrived. On Monday, Bonnie returned to her house, which was still sitting astride the railroad tracks. A National Guardsman prohibited her from entering, but Bonnie was determined to find her cat. With the assistance of the National Guardsman, she found Sylvester alive.
“I called to him and he answered me with a meow,” she said.
A few days later, employees of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad tried to remove the Oldhams’ home from the tracks, but the severely damaged structure began to crumble. Bonnie was able to salvage photographs of her father, who passed away last year.
‘I Want to Help People, Too’
Bonnie has since visited the Red Cross Client Service Center in Winona several times, seeking counseling and long-term recovery referrals to help stabilize her life. She plans to continue her relationship with the Red Cross in the months and years ahead, but by helping rather than being helped.
“The Red Cross was fantastic out there,” she says. “They put us in touch with our family, gave us food and water, and helped with Roger’s medications. I saw what the Red Cross did for the Katrina victims. And after all this, I want to help people, too. I want to become a Red Cross volunteer.”
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting http://www.redcross.org.
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http://www.redcross.org/article/0,1072, ... 41,00.html
Finding a New Home and a New Purpose
Floods uprooted Bonnie Oldham’s house, but she hopes to find a new home in the Red Cross
By Stephanie Carter, Disaster Volunteer, Rappahannock (Va.) Chapter
Tuesday, September 11, 2007 — Bonnie Oldham was sound asleep in her bed, exhausted from a long day of working outdoors. It was Sunday, August 19, and heavy rain was falling outside, as it had been across southeastern Minnesota since Saturday evening.
At 11:20 p.m., Bonnie’s husband, Roger, awakened her and told her that their town, Stockton, was being evacuated. But by the time the couple started heading for the door, it was too late. Water from a drainage ditch adjacent to their home had already overflowed its banks and was lapping over the front porch.
Roger decided it would be safest for them to climb onto the roof. But when he tried to open the door, he couldn’t budge it an inch. The house was shifting on its foundation, and the doors were jammed shut.
While Roger fought to open the door, Bonnie awakened her 72-year-old mother, Audrey Ellinghuysen, who has on-set Alzheimer’s disease. Bonnie helped her mother gather her medications and a change of clothes.
Suddenly, both Bonnie’s and Roger’s cell phones rang. Bonnie’s son was calling to say he was heading to Stockton, but she told him it was too late; Roger’s son was also calling, and Roger explained that he and Bonnie were stuck in the house. During these hurried conversations, both phone lines went dead.
Finally, Roger succeeded in prying open the door. He and Audrey tried to use a glass patio table to gain access to the roof, but the glass shattered, so they dragged a desk and nightstand out of the house and stacked the furniture. Roger boosted Bonnie and Audrey onto the roof, after which Bonnie reached down, grabbed her husband, and pulled him up.
Roger, exhausted, began gasping for air. Bonnie realized he didn’t have his nitrogen pills, which he takes for a heart condition. Bonnie quickly climbed down from the roof and re-entered her home.
She saw her frightened cat, Sylvester, sitting on the bed. She knew she couldn’t take him with her, so she put him on the shelf in the closet. “I told him, ‘Wait until Mama comes to get you,’” Bonnie said.
She grabbed two quilts and ran out the door, forgetting the nitrogen pills. Roger pulled her up onto the roof and wouldn’t let her go back down—a decision that probably saved her life.
“A wall of water was heading towards us,” Bonnie says. “The sound was deafening.”
Clinging to Each Other
They heard a loud snap and thought it was a tree branch breaking, but it was something much more dangerous—their house was ripping away from its foundation. As if in slow motion, the house started moving with the current.
“Here we go!” Roger yelled.
“We knew we were in for a ride,” Bonnie said. “We were level with the treetops and had to duck under the power lines.”
The water carried their house a few blocks until it ground to a halt on some railroad tracks. Had they traveled a few more feet, they would have been dragged under the elevated tracks and into some nearby woods.
It was now almost 1:00 in the morning. In the darkness they clung to each other, using the quilts to shelter themselves from the rain. They heard strange popping and hissing sounds and realized they were surrounded by gas tanks.
Finally, more than six hours after Roger awakened Bonnie, the three survivors were discovered and rescued by firefighters and a local resident. They were taken by airboat to a waiting ambulance and transported to Community Memorial Hospital in Winona, where they were told the American Red Cross had listed them as missing.
A family friend, Amy Weston, took the three to the Red Cross shelter at St. Mary’s University. A Red Cross volunteer told Bonnie her son had called 10 minutes earlier, desperately trying to locate his family. The Red Cross immediately called her son back and put them in touch with each other.
“The Red Cross volunteer instantly said, ‘Tell us what you need,’” Bonnie said. “Roger needed medication and they made sure he got it.”
The three rested at the shelter until family arrived. On Monday, Bonnie returned to her house, which was still sitting astride the railroad tracks. A National Guardsman prohibited her from entering, but Bonnie was determined to find her cat. With the assistance of the National Guardsman, she found Sylvester alive.
“I called to him and he answered me with a meow,” she said.
A few days later, employees of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad tried to remove the Oldhams’ home from the tracks, but the severely damaged structure began to crumble. Bonnie was able to salvage photographs of her father, who passed away last year.
‘I Want to Help People, Too’
Bonnie has since visited the Red Cross Client Service Center in Winona several times, seeking counseling and long-term recovery referrals to help stabilize her life. She plans to continue her relationship with the Red Cross in the months and years ahead, but by helping rather than being helped.
“The Red Cross was fantastic out there,” she says. “They put us in touch with our family, gave us food and water, and helped with Roger’s medications. I saw what the Red Cross did for the Katrina victims. And after all this, I want to help people, too. I want to become a Red Cross volunteer.”
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting http://www.redcross.org.
[/i]
