The tragedies continue to overwhelm us as we see the physical devastation brought by Hurricane Helene. Entire communities were almost completely removed off the face of the earth.
Along comes Rotary and our service component. Rotary Clubs in the USA formed a nonprofit organization called Disaster Aid USA to address such havoc. Rotarians come from all over the United States to help in disaster relief whether it be from Hurricane Harvey in Southeast Texas to the Maui Fires in Hawaii to the recent Texas Panhandles fires. Currently, Rotarians from across the country have traveled to the East Coast to assist in flood relief, assisting home owners of flooded homes to remove the flood-damaged interiors along with belongings so that these homes can be aired out to avoid molds from developing in these home.
Rotarians in those East Coast communities are housing these volunteers. These Rotary volunteers are working 10-12 hour days to help our community recover from the flooding, particularly in the western part of North Carolina. These Rotarians donate their physical labor free of charge to help those with dire needs. As the flooding recedes, more Rotarians will be there to help. You can help by volunteering to serve. Those of us older Rotarians who find it hard to physically work can contribute by donating money to Disaster Aid USA.
The five Rotary Club in Montgomery County are working together to provide volunteers and money to fund these activities. Monetary funds, clothing, and food will be collected to assist the disaster relief arm of Rotary which is called Disaster Aid USA. If you can help this non-profit organization, please contact Patrick Leslie in Pearland, Texas at Patrick.Rotary1@gmail.com or go online at www.DisasterAidUSA.org. Your assistance in this 501 (c) 3 organization is safely monitored to assure donations are used efficiently.
Rotary Clubs also contribute to the relief efforts by providing Shelter Boxes to disaster areas. Rotary works directly with ShelterBox USA, another non-profit organization in providing packaged tent shelters with cooking and water purification gear to help those in disaster areas like the East Coast. Each packaged Shelter Tent is easily transported in its durable self-contained box to those rural disaster areas in the Appalachians along the East Coast hit hard by Helene. I joke that each package shelter box can sleep 27 uncomfortably. If that is what you have for shelter, it is better than sleeping out in the night unprotected from storms and cold. Each Shelter Box does contain tent insulation layers. The Rotary Club of Conroe has contributed over ten Shelter Boxes over the last two years.
Rotary Clubs are about serving others, whether it be those in remote disaster communities or those in need in our local community. We support those who demonstrate those services. We appreciate the multitude of crews that ENTERGY is providing to support our fellow Americans devastated by Helene’s destructive forces on the power systems in that area. Stuart Barret and Brittany Chandler with ENTERGY outlined to the Rotary Club of Conroe last Tuesday what ENTERGY is doing before, during, and after Helene along the East Coast. Their crews are working 16-hour days and resting for 8 hours in restoring power to the millions who have lost it. However, they also mentioned the energy system hardening provisions here locally in the Montgomery County area. The Rotary Clubs appreciate ENTERGY’s example of “Service Above Self.”
The Rotary Club of Conroe meets at noon Tuesdays at Honor Cafe in downtown Conroe. To find out more about Rotary, contact Ron Saikowski at rsaikowski@comcast.net.
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