Major Props to the Red Cross

Thank you Advisor for pointing where to put this as it didnt really fit anywhere but here goes.

At 1130am this morning, I was called at work that my apartment and the 9 units attached to it were engulfed in flames. Arriving home in 3 minutes(sorry Madera School District for the 75mph), I arrived home to find the MFD pumping water from the ladder into the roof of my bedroom and got to stand there and watch everything that i owned destroyed in a matter of minutes.(stick with me, heres where the props come in) within an hour of my arrival, the Red Cross showed up. They had Motel, Food and Clothing Vouchers for all of us, along with Care packages for both men and women(hygiene stuff). I had no clue the Red Cross dealt with emergencies this small,(Huge to me, but small by comparison to a dam break or Hurricane Katrina) In the midst of the money scandals i see reported, i just wanted to give a HUGE THANK YOU to the American Red Cross. They Truly are a helping hand in the middle of a huge mess. God Bless em.

and as i type this and watch the repeat of the 11pm news...my mug was just plastered on it, im famous..hehe. One thing i will add to this, the news vultures were already here at the motel waiting for us victims to check in. Needless to say they didnt show my choice words i had to say about that.

The Outpouring of the community so quickly was also flabbergasting. You never truly know who cares about those little things you do for them, until something like this happens to you, and it comes back at you 10 fold.

Edited to add Video Link

Video Courtesy CBS 47 Fresno

[edit on 31-3-2006 by S1LV3R4D0]

Your are welcome S1LV3R4D0, just doing my duty.
I'm very happy you are ok, thank goodness.

Will send prayers out, and hope that you along with the other people have the best for support. I know many people who have lost a home from fire, as happy I am that you all are ok. It is still a sad moment, renters insurance or worse, not.

Damn bro I am & , all at the same time...

I'm sorry to hear what you have had to go through, it's nice to know that there are still people and organisations out there who care for others with no expectation of anything in return.
I hope everything works out OK for you and everyone involved

Thanx guys, very much appreciated. Everyone is safe, just lost possessions and displaced lives. Ive had some down times b4 but this sledgehammer to the chest was a hard one to absorb. Thank goodness for all the good people around us to help cushion the blow bigtime.

Ive already come to the conclusion that theres nothing i can do about it. I say that now, but i havent walked into the damage, get to do that when i wake up today, if i sleep...dam stress induced insomnia....argh. Lets see what my attitude is after i see the damage upclose.

Man that really sucks. I'm glad to hear that you're ok though. Stuff can always be replaced. Yah, I agree about the Red Cross. They're really a godsend to people that have lost everything.

The red cross will also help you pay heating bills in the winter if you can't afford them....electric bills to. Not the phone or cable or things of that nature, but nessesary utilites.....
Amazing organisation deserving of donations.

Thanx for the info TRG. I got the bills covered but thats good info to have Just in Case. Another little Tidbit about the Red Cross i didnt know, again thanx.

Red Cross is a huge help to Military personnel also. They will help from the family end to see that the Military person is aware of and will help to smooth this person's way home to any emergency.

I am the mother of a soldier. Some years ago a mess happened and American Red Cross helped to get it all sorted out.

My son (a new soldier) was sent east with his unit by air to a new post. His wife and children were following him by bus. I became aware of the problem during the night when the wife called me from a bus stop on her way east. She didn't have any more money, she was traveling with the two little children, and didn't know how to get in touch with my son about where and when she would be arriving in a strange city in the middle of the night.

I got in touch with my local Red Cross and they took it from there. By the time my daughter-in-law arrived everything was sorted out.

SILV3R, sorry to here about your misfortune. I hope you were lucky enough to have renter's insurance.

I didn't know about the Red Cross helping out like this when small tragedies occur.
Good to know and thanks for taking the time to applaud them ,even when your world has been turned upside down

Sorry to hear about your experience. Im glad you are ok!
I was involved in a house fire also and myself and my roomates stood outside and watched as it burned. The Fire Dept. put it out but it was damaged so bad that we couldnt live there.
The Red Cross came to our rescue and put us up in a motel for a week as we struggled to find a place to live.
God Bless them!!! We were pretty shook up at the time so we were thankful for the help.
I give back to charity, its taken out of by bank account every month and I dont even remember that im doing it most of the time.

Thanx for all your support gang. Unfortunately, i had let it lapse during the xmas holidays and sadly enuff was going today(payday) to renew it. But cant cry over spilt milk. Day late and a dollar short as i like to say. The fire investigator called me just a few minutes ago to inform me the guy next door, that i had been complaining about for 7 months had a meth lab and it exploded. Well NO SH*T. After a looooong drive and alotta support from family, friends and community. Ive made peace with the fact everything i own is gone. im out the door right now to ascess the damage. but as u can see from the vid....hope of salvage is minimal. Wish me luck.

Well that sucked, the FD isnt done with the investigation, and they dont know if they are gonna label it safe enuff for civi's to walk on. Ive just accepted the fact that i gotta start from scratch. argh.

****Another update****

Was able to salvage my bike, some clothes, about half(thank goodness i hadnt done laundry yet, thats usually thursday nite ritual), soaked and covered in burnt ceiling and 2x4's. All my handguns. THANK YOU SSK case makers. my crystal wine glasses(they were in the dishwasher which was semi intact) and my Cutco Knives. thats about it. everything else is destroyed or burned. So all in all not a total loss, and im still here and kickin to bug ATS the little bit i do, hehe. Sadly, dam near all my keepsakes from family long gone was lost.

For all you Religious Miracles Conspiracy Peeps, heres one for you.

My bible was out on my bedstand right next to my bed, nothing on it, over it, wide out in the open.

Untouched, intact, not wet, singed, nothing. entire roof missing over apartment, rain storms all nite last nite, firefighters pumping 500 gallons a minute into that room thursday. and NOTHING perfectly fine. 17" lcd sitting right next to it, melted, side of bed stand burned from destroyed bed and bedding. but the top of that bedstand is dry as a bone and completely unharmed. the other side, my dresser burned and semi destroyed. Crazy Huh?

Im utterly blown away at that. but then again, not. Dunno how to explain how i feel about it. Its kinda like i knew it was ok just before i saw it there. My mom gave me that bible when i was 7 and ive had it next to my bed for 30 yrs now. Im not even that religious these years, maybe i should be. hmmm

ps, thanx to Zaphod, Gimmefootball420 and a couple others for hangin with me in chat Thursday nite.... It truly sucked that nite.

On a lighter note, i hollered across the parking lot to my manager, "Does this affect my cleaning deposit in anyway?"

Thanks for sharing that note about your bible. Very inspiring. I am happy that you were able to save the few things that you did, and most important, you are alive and unhurt.

Mahree

Thanx Mahree, much appreciated. Im glad someone can find inspiration in the midst of my tragedy. At least something good can come out of this. Thanx for your support.

S1LV3R4D0, sorry to hear about your home man. I'm glad to hear that you're ok and hopefully this can all be sorted out and you will be back on your feet in no time. I'll pray for ya

Later
Sporty

[edit on 1/4/2006 by SportyMB]

Very Much Appreciated Sporty. The Outpouring of support from family, friends and the community has been humbling to say the least. But what doesnt kill ya makes ya stronger. ill be back on my feet in no time thanks to all of them and all of you. Thanx again all

S1LV3R4D0, sorry to hear about the loss of your home, and you seem to be taking it as well as can be expected. I am glad to hear the Red Cross has helped in a small way. I have donated to them for several years and I am pleased to hear of someone who may have benefited from an organization that I support.

I'm sure I speak for several people here at ATS that we are all pulling for you.

Thanx alot Hal. Thats mainly why i started this thread was to show a side of the red cross that isnt really discussed much around here(understandably cuz being goods not a conspiracy)

I donate 3x a yr to the red cross just because. I attempt to give blood once or twice a yr, but past few years ive been getting tattooed so thats been kyboshing that. It made my heart warm when i seen that truck roll up while at that very moment im watching flames rise from the roof of my kitchen while the FD shot thousands of gallons of water from the ladder truck directly into where i was sitting 5 hrs earlier.

Im still pretty down about the recovery process today. First time i saw all the destruction up close. Tryin to keep a positive outlook though, and like i said, its been alot easier to swallow it all with help from everyone here at ATS and here in the hometown. Its a smalltown and i mostly grew up here so i know half the residents. Its a Better Community then i thought it was. I even contacted a friend who writes for the local paper to show my thanks to the community in a writeup.