Spring Break
Volunteers lighten the load
Bryan-College Station residents pitch in to help prepare for Hurricane Ike
By: christen beck
Issue date: 9/11/08 Section: News
Residents of College Station and Bryan hurriedly filled up gas tanks and stocked up on goods in preparation for the Category 2 Storm. City employees and community volunteers have been orchestrating the relief effort throughout the week in preparation for Hurricane Ike.
Veterans Park, the relief's check-in facility for evacuees, was warm and busy Thursday night as volunteers handed out snacks and directed evacuees to local shelters.
Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine and Riverside Campus are designated temporary shelters for evacuees' pets of all sizes. President Bush addressed animal concerns in 2001 with the Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act, one of the many legislative measures taken to grant the necessary funds to attend to a whole community.
Elderly individuals and those who require medical treatment will be sent to Reed Arena, where special needs can be met by specialized medical personnel.
Veterans Park is directed by the Community Emergency Operations Center. The CEOC opened Tuesday and is based in downtown Bryan. The facility is designed to coordinate disasters affecting the Brazos County, which has the capacity to shelter 2,500 people.
"The shelter list comes from the Emergency Operations Center," explained Geri Marsh, the recreation supervisor for College Station's Parks and Recreation. "They give us a very specific number for each facility, so when they call us and say a certain faith-based or city-based facility is open, they will tell us exactly how many that location can take."
Overall, Marsh said she thinks "the effort is going well."
Faith-based facilities have been playing a large role in the relief effort as a majority of the shelters are churches. The First Baptist Church of Bryan, like other churches in the area, was contacted by the Red Cross to act as a shelter and began preparing Wednesday night.
The church's relief effort at this particular facility is run by volunteers. Evacuees staying at First Baptist Church of Bryan actively assisted church members Thursday night as the number of visitors escalated.
Cheryl Miears, a Red Cross coordinator and member of First Baptist Church of Bryan, suggested that those wishing to donate to the cause give gas cards.
"People don't have the gas to get back home," she said. " This is a great way to give away to total strangers., You've either been in that situation or think you could be We [the church] did this for the last hurricane, and these guys had so much fun with the people and interacting with the children that they were here to sign-up again.."
Veterans Park, the relief's check-in facility for evacuees, was warm and busy Thursday night as volunteers handed out snacks and directed evacuees to local shelters.
Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine and Riverside Campus are designated temporary shelters for evacuees' pets of all sizes. President Bush addressed animal concerns in 2001 with the Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act, one of the many legislative measures taken to grant the necessary funds to attend to a whole community.
Elderly individuals and those who require medical treatment will be sent to Reed Arena, where special needs can be met by specialized medical personnel.
Veterans Park is directed by the Community Emergency Operations Center. The CEOC opened Tuesday and is based in downtown Bryan. The facility is designed to coordinate disasters affecting the Brazos County, which has the capacity to shelter 2,500 people.
"The shelter list comes from the Emergency Operations Center," explained Geri Marsh, the recreation supervisor for College Station's Parks and Recreation. "They give us a very specific number for each facility, so when they call us and say a certain faith-based or city-based facility is open, they will tell us exactly how many that location can take."
Overall, Marsh said she thinks "the effort is going well."
Faith-based facilities have been playing a large role in the relief effort as a majority of the shelters are churches. The First Baptist Church of Bryan, like other churches in the area, was contacted by the Red Cross to act as a shelter and began preparing Wednesday night.
The church's relief effort at this particular facility is run by volunteers. Evacuees staying at First Baptist Church of Bryan actively assisted church members Thursday night as the number of visitors escalated.
Cheryl Miears, a Red Cross coordinator and member of First Baptist Church of Bryan, suggested that those wishing to donate to the cause give gas cards.
"People don't have the gas to get back home," she said. " This is a great way to give away to total strangers., You've either been in that situation or think you could be We [the church] did this for the last hurricane, and these guys had so much fun with the people and interacting with the children that they were here to sign-up again.."
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