Labor Day Building Work Day
As our building has been prone to flooding under far less extenuating circumstances and we prefer not to get a Frequent Customer card from Stanley Steemer, we are having a whole-church work day tomorrow (9:00 AM - Monday, 1 September 2008) for those willing, able and available to help.
We will be digging some small trenches, cleaning and quick-fixing the gutters and scuppers that have not yet been repaired, clearing drains, procuring and placing sandbags, and doing other tasks in order to prepare the building for the heavy rain and wind that is expected.
Forecasters are saying that we should use the May flooding as a general indicator of what to expect, so even though we have already made some corrections to avoid the level of flooding we experienced then, we would much rather do the work beforehand than after.
Thanks to all of you who have volunteered to host evacuees from our sister congregations in South Louisiana. If you would like add your name on our Hurricane Housing list, please answer the questions at the end of this email and send them to Susan Caldwell at dre@allsoulsuushreveport.org.
Also, a group of people signed up today to help staff the church in th event that we open it up as a short-term shelter for a limited group of people, should we have more housing requests than our home hosts can fulfill. To add your name to this list, please send me your name, phone numbers and email, as well as how much time you are willing to give, and what you are willing to do (cook, bring food, provide other supplies, stay overnight, etc.). Of course, our ability to do this will also be contingent upon how well our own building weathers the storm.
Latest word on the city shelters is that they are full, and evacuees are being directed to points further north.
Word from Chloe Haygood in Mayor Glover's office is that volunteers are needed at the Southern University shelter, 3050 Martin Luther King Drive.
At Centerpoint, they are looking for people with good phone skills and basic computer skills to answer phones on the night shift and enter data concerning people in need of services. For more information, contact Terri Brock, Executive Director:Office: 318-227-2100 ext. 27, or Cell 318-617-0431; e-mail: tbrock@centerpt.org. The new offices for Centerpoint are located in Suite 130, at 2121 Fairfield Avenue, in the Highland area off I-20, near Christus Schumpert Hospital.
This bulletin was posted on the KTBS website at 3:00 p.m.
The Bossier City Fire Department is asking for donations of food and water for dozens of Gustav evacuees on buses that are staging in the south parking lot of the CenturyTel Center. The buses are being staged at that location until the state and federal emergency officials can determine where to send them for shelter since all shelters in the Shreveport-Bossier City area are currently at capacity.
Members of the public who would like to help are asked to bring bottled water and non-perishable, ready to eat, food to the north parking lot of the CenturyTel Center.
Sandbag information: Sandbags are available at the Shreveport Streets and Drainage Department, 3825 Old Mansfield Road. They are closed for the afternoon but will reopen at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. Sandbags limited to 25 per vehicle.
That's what we know right now! See you in the morning.
(Posted - 31 August 2008)