13 Days to go and our Press Release is out

Yesterday we sent out our Camino4Cancer Press Release. Now it's official and there's no turning back. Quite nervous but after talking to Ann at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center down in Louisiana we are more determined than ever to make the fundraising part of our trip as successful as possible. I had a great conversation with Ann the Annual Giving Program Director but I could hear it in her voice, they've had a pretty tough time down there. For weeks now they have been welcoming and serving everyone who has come through their doors in need of cancer treatments. They have some diffcult days ahead of them. The incredible thing about Mary Bird is that they embrace everyone who walks into the center regardless of their ability to pay. We are excited more than ever about the two cancer charities we have chosen, Mary Bird Perkins and Pediatric Cancer Research at the Massey Cancer Center. I hope we can really do right by them.

28 days

In the last few weeks we have been doing a boatload of work trying to get all of our ducks in a row for the trip. But we are making headway with just 28 days left to go before we leave. Right now we have several possible children's cancer charities to choose from, one that will directly help some of the victims of the Hurricane and we are working on getting some sponsors to help with web and administrative fees and gear. If you are interested in being a sponsor, email me at callie.householder@mac.com. Thanks Brad Hanna on all your hard web work! You are a big help on making this thing happen. On top of all of our running around get everything together, Dwight is back on the road with Cowboy Mouth AND trying to get two guitars finished for Southern Comfort by the end of the month.
Since they have no home to go home to, this New Orleans band has been going like a freight train, non stop. Luckily for all of us, they will be here in Atlanta at the Roxy, this Wed the 21st and then again on Oct 1 at Earthlink live. So come support them, they may have lost their hometown temporarily but not their energy and drive to give the best show every time. By far they put on the best live show of any band I have ever seen and if you are sitting down at the end of it it's only because you are passed out.
In other news, Dwight and I got lost at Kennesaw Mountain, because for some reason I always get lost there. It all looks the same! And I am predicting that like our upcoming hike in Spain he was just following my lead. We ended up doing over 6 miles of tough mountainous climbing, and at the end of it all it probably wasn't even comparable to what we will be challenged with on our first day on the Camino. A 15 mile hike straight up and over the Pyrenees! Bring it on!

Thoughts on our trip and fundraising

During the past week I have been left heavy hearted not just thinking about the future for all the survivors of Hurricane Katrina but also wondering what is in store for us as well. Would it be even harder for Dwight and I to come back and face a huge unemployment market? Dwight worries about his job with Cowboy Mouth when he gets back. Several of the bands members being from New Orleans have suffered great loss. Everyone is safe but some homes have been lost as well as most of the organization having to relocate. So we've had a lot to think about over the last week, questioning whether to stay the course or not. Wondering too whether our fundraising trip to Spain was the right thing to do. In the coming days Americans will be asked to reach deep into their pockets and help support organizations such as The Red Cross, The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, Habitat for Humanity and many more.
After much vacillating we decided to stay the course. So many non-hurricane related charities suffered great deficits after the Tsunami because so many focused their efforts there. The financial support from our fellow Americans is amazing and wonderful but many charities will hurt financially from less support in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. They count on donations from the public to survive. Our thoughts are that the children's cancer charities we are hoping to raise money for need us now more than ever. We are working on a plan to tie in cancer victims of the Hurricane with our fund raising efforts and hope that maybe in some way we can still make some impact with a portion of our efforts going to that AND to Children's cancer. Lots up in the air but we are working hard to still make this happen and feel good about asking for donations as well.

From Nola to Atlanta

As I spent the Labor day weekend helping evacuees find clothing, housing, food and some direction in their now home-less lives, I realized these evacuees are no different than you or me, except now they have nothing but each other and we have everything to offer. For the majority, they are smart, educated people that had good jobs, nice homes and are incredibly family oriented. Most that I met had practically nothing now but yet gave away the little that they had to help those that had even less. One young guy in particular walked in the community church I was volunteering at and I immediately assessed he was in need of assistance. BJ was a young firefighter from New Orleans that had left two days before the Hurricane hit, ended up in Atlanta and had no idea where his family was,if they had made it out safely or where to turn. He was lost and worried, I told him I bet his family was just as worried about him as well. We quickly decided that the first priority was to locate his family and then we could begin the process of finding him housing, clothes, job leads ect. With little internet resources at the church we were able to get online with my laptop and began the internet search for any information on his family and to register that he himslef was safe. After doing the CNN and Red Cross avenues we actually just googled his name and family. We found an email address of a relative in search of his Mom and Dad and emailed her. Then we continued our search and found a blog of someone looking for his Mom, Dad and sister who wrote that as of Sat they were trapped in an apartment building they had fled to. Suddenly, an email popped up and it was from a relative I don't think he had ever met but she was asking if he was ok? did he need money? where was he? and to please call one of the numbers listed. Within minutes BJ was on the phone with his Mom and Dad and with tears in his eyes hugged me with a huge broad smile and began to tell his family all that had taken place. I had to leave the room to give him privacy but also because I was a little choked up. And then for the first time I heard his wonderful laugh and knew that everything would eventually be ok for this young firefighter from Nola. It had only taken us an hour to reconnect him with his family and his story is so similar to so many others. He told me "you're my people now." and as we sent him off to be with his Aunt in Dallas Georgia, he gave me a wave, a smile and a thank you. I'm looking forward to hearing more from him in the days ahead.

The week after Hurricane Katrina-where do we go from here?

Last week when this tragedy began to unfold I was home sick in bed. With nothing to do but blow my nose and eat cheezits I got sucked into the tube and all the devasting images coming out of New Orleans and the gulf area. I couldn't turn it off. I felt so frustrated that nothing was being done. Why were these people recieving no help day after day while the rest of America and the world sat and watched in horror. I decided that we could either choose to sit in front of our TV’s and do nothing but fester on the negative images coming out of last week or do something, anything. Would we find it in our hearts to offer the resources we have to these people that have nothing and no where to turn? I'm not going to sit on my political opinion box but I am going to implore that instead of waiting on the government to take action it is up to us to make a difference. Make a difference or wallow in the negative, it’s your choice, because regardless there will be an influx of evacuees depending on us because they have no where to turn. What if it was you on the other end? It could happen. It has happened. I decided to take action and signed up to volunteer with Hands on Atlanta. They are a great service organization here that I have been able to work with on many projects in the last few years. There is the First Chamblee Methodist Church they were servicing and it was close to home so I went there. I couldn't believe it. The clothes and food available and the warm, wonderful volunteers were abundant. I jumped in and worked as a liason to the evacuees coming in, helping with their needs, clothes, and well just to give the hope that they have places to turn to. Most of the people I talked to normally are the ones helping others. They are full of pride and would have never in their wildest dreams think they would find themselves at the mercy of the good hearted people of America offering housing, food, clothing and job assistance. One father just said he would do anything, just wanted to go right to work, whatever he could find to support his wife, three kids and a cousin they had taken in. This family doesn't want to go back to New Orleans and I believe that where ever they land they will stay and they will thrive and do well. Hopefully, with the help of the good people of Georgia, they will have an easier time getting their lives back on track. One person can make a difference. Go out and do something. For Charlene, the 9 year old little girl standing in the middle of the community room, smiling as everyone sang happy birthday to her, with balloons and cake, that was enough to know that our efforts are worth every second and every penny we give.