Tornado Benefit

On Sunday March 19th, 2006. yours truly finally pulled one off. Our very first Successful benefit drive. We raised over 200 dollars in cash and the donations took a minivan, 2 trucks and 2 cars to get it all to my house. I couldn’t have been happier with all the help we were able to provide to the storm victims.

Since some people whom I have already named in another story seem to have forgotten exactly how it all came together, let me tell you the real story… A few days after the storm hit, I called Alphonso to ask him if I could do a food drive at his club. He at that point referred me to his partner Neil. Shortly after talking to Neil, I received a phone call from a man who introduced himself to me as Dj Dave Issacs. The rest is history. Thanks to a large list of big hearted people the word spread fast and the media joined in helping get out the word, well channel 17 did anyway thanks to a friend from my yahoo group, Victoria. And Thanks to the generosity of Dave Isaacs, Kiss FM showed up on the site and did a live remote bringing in even more donations. The muscle of the guys from Local Wrestling Fed 3CW were on hand to help take in the donations from people who drove in, not to mention Bryan Ealey and Antione Archie (from UVW) helping with the at least 20 trips up the stairs to my apartment.

It was so great to be a part of something like this. A friend of Dave’s, Tom, even drove almost 2 hours into town just to cook for the volunteers. Brat burgers! An ingenious idea, and yummy! Everyone came together for something other than themselves. Friends were made, bridges were rebuilt, and good was done for all involved. My daughter got to be a part of the love shared for our community and our neighbors, a lesson and feeling I hope stays with her the rest of her life.

And this is just the beginning. We are growing, and we are growing fast. I am attempting to have a drive every month, in one shape or another. I have offers from small places to let me use their facilities for shows and parties that will all raise money for whatever causes we choose. Out of the disaster that hit this town on March 12^th good was born. A community came together to help each other. We need to keep that spirit alive, not just for this town, but for our children. Change is possible, together we can make it happen.