Starting to Get tired

So its Sunday, and its really slow, so I am using a RC computer to type this up. Yesterday and today were both hard days. Today is 9/11, and I have to say that being here, with these people, made the day different for me. We had a non denomination service this morning that was maybe 10 minutes long. It was very moving. We had a military man come in with a bell and we rang it and hand a few moments of silence. I promise you there was not a dry eye in the whole house, not male or female, young or old. Many of these people were on site then which made it particularly special to be there. Instead of being on the side of the tragedy where I felt helpless, I felt for the first time I was on the side where I could contribute. It was pretty special, and the first time since I have been here that I finally broke down and cried.

Yesterday was tough. Now that the initial shock of things has worn off, and the "whatever it takes" attitude is giving way to the need for organization, people are getting a bit frustrated at Corporate Head Quarters. Its understandable that this is happening, given that the 200 people in this office are responsible for the lives and well being of 100's of thousands of people. I feel bad when I see people breaking down, given that I know that they are doing all that they can. But I am not sure that its possible to operate in any other way.

To date the Red Cross has served over 6.5 million meals since the storm. We are sheltering over 100,000 people in the state of LA. and all of the supplies for these meals and shelter supplies are going through our group.

Yesterday I did a pretty cool thing. Because the vouchers are taking awhile to get into peoples hands, we are issuing 20 dollar gift certificates to the Good Will to the survivors. We needed to find a way to make sure they were not just copied and used, so I called dear old dad and he helped me out. Of course, dad can do anything. Any how...the guy comes up to me yesterday with the proofs of the comp I made and says, "how do you like them" I said they look great!, he said...good, we just printed 1 million dollars worth of certificates to be distributed. I was shocked, my little design now was on a million dollars worth of money to be spent. A small thing, but its kinda cool...and yes, I know I am geek.

The CEO of the Red Cross was in here yesterday and I met her. What a cool freakin job. She basically runs a Fortune 500 company, that does nothing but good work for people in need. I was talking to her, and the Red Cross is the only organization in the world that can put up and take down operations for a Fortune 500 company in 1 week. I think thats so amazing. Basically they warehouse everything, lap tops, discs with info they update, supplies, tables, chairs, etc. They do this all over the country, and the world, so if a disaster hits, they are always close to what they need. So cool.

There is a woman in my shelter who is working at a client shelter (thats for the survivors, they call them clients) who met woman who had been separated from her children since the storm hit, and no one could get them reunited. This woman took her 1 day off, rented a car with her own money, and drover 6 hours each way to another state, to pick up these kids. Its stories like that that I wish the media was covering.

I have not watch or read the news once since we got here. I dont want it to hinder my experience, given that the media sensationalizes everything. However, I am curious to see how off they are, given that I have a lot of first hand information on things.

We got the relief cards in today for LA. These are the cards that the Clients will use to get back on their feet. They are being taken by police escort to the shelters for distribution.

There as been a lot of crime around here. I am sure you know more about it than I do but what I am hearing is first hand, and not fun. We have had to have the National gaurd lock down 2 of our shelters because people were rioting to get their relief cards for money. Another story I heard was that 2 women were raped in a shelter a few days ago. People are showing up infected to some shelters and spreading diseases. We still not have been ABA ble to get showers to many people and shelters, there is one shelter with 4,000 people who has not had showers since the storm hit. We are doing our best, but we can only move so fast. We are building cities, and you cant do that in less than a week. The saddest thing that I have heard to date, is that as they are relocating people, they are just putting them on planes, and not telling them where they are going until they take off That breaks my heart, but I cant figure a way around it, as people were trying to change the locations they were going to.

Any how, this is all I have time for now. I now fully have lost my voice and I am exhausted. Wednesday cant come to soon.

I miss everyone.

Ashley