Mobile Loaves & Fishes Blog

Straight From The Horses' Mouth: An Email From Those We Helped

An email came into the MLF inbox that was too touching not to share with all of you.  Whether you donated your time, donated your resources, or sent your prayers to MLF, this letter is for you.

-Rachel

I just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful fresh cooked hamburger served by your caring volunteers this past weekend in Bayou Vista, TX after Hurricane Ike. My husband and I are residents and had just returned the day before. The devastation was quite overwhelming. That meal was very much appreciated after a very laborous morning of beginning our clean up. We are now able to live (camp) in our house and things are getting just a little bit better everyday. A great faith in God can get you through rough times and I'm now able to see how very many things I have to be thankful for.
   
Please pass this on to others in your group.

May God Bless You All,
      
Denise T.,  Galveston, TX

Hurricane Ike Relief Trip # 3

We are ready for trip # 3.  Go to www.mlfnow.org/signups to register as a volunteer to help us.  We are leaving Austin at 6 PM on Friday September 26 and wil return on Sunday evening.  It is a joy to serve and take happiness to the people impacted by Ike.  We still need financial help so just click on the donate button below if you can help us that way.  Every little bit  helps and allows us to multiply the love.

-Alan

Latest "alangram"

Click on the image to read it full-sized.  Trust me, you'll like it!

 

If you wanna go on one of these trips or just stay in touch go to the top left corner of this page and look up top.

-Alan

Thank You!

I just wanted to personally thank everyone who participated in making our trip to the Galveston area so awesome.  From all of those who helped prepare on Friday evening to all of the volunteers that went on the trip to those who shopped for us.  Thank you!

We had an amazing time taking happiness into the devastated area.  We carried each of you in our hearts and from the response we received they felt the love.  We fed about 4,000 meals and the hot meals we were providing with our cook trailer were really popular.  The grilled hamburgers and hot dogs went over really well.

The number of cash donations we received was something else.  I have never experienced such generosity not so much in the amount but how so many people felt compelled to just give and say thank you.

We will travel again this weekend so stay tuned to future announcements.  Again, on behalf of all of those we had the opportunity to serve, THANK YOU!!!

God bless,

-Alan

No Gas in Nashville, TN Thanks to Hurricane Ike

Sara Hylton, the Nashville Mobile Loaves & Fishes Program Director, wrote with some eye-opening news: apparently there is no gas in Nashville, TN.  At the last report, 85-90% of the stations were empty, and the few stations that had gas in stock were charging $4.00 or more per gallon.

No gas means no truck runs, since the truck in Nashville is almost empty and there is no gas in sight.  Volunteers are also feeling the crunch, with what little gas they have in their cars being saved for work and emergencies.  In times like these you have to "ration every precious drop," a volunteer said.

Reports give the gas crunch in Nashville another week before things are resolved--so make sure to send your prayers to the brothers and sisters in need who will surely miss the MLF truck. 

-Rachel

Wagon full 'o burgers

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

A Trip Down Memory Lane (on the way to the Texas Gulf Coast!)

Hey all, it's Rachel here.  As you may have guessed, I am not in  one of the 10 cars on the way down to the Texas Gulf Coast, but I am in touch with the team of more than 40 people and will be blogging about their experiences from Austin.

I just talked to Alan, who, as luck would have it, is passing his hometown of Alvin, TX right now.  As we spoke about how the morning departure went (smoothly), how everybody was feeling (awesome), and what they expected to find (people to help), he chuckled suddenly. 

Apparently we were passing the place where he used to play "pull the purse," which, for the uninitiated, is a game played by children everywhere with their mother's purse, some string, and a boatload of mischief. You tie the string to the purse handles, put the purse on the road, and wait for somebody to pass by and see it.  Just when they are stopping and getting ready to grab the purse you pull it.  Voila! 

Boys will be boys, I suppose :)

That story got a laugh from Kate and Dacia, two blogging volunteers  from The Austin Chronicle (www.austinchronicle.com/emergency) who are in Alan's vehicle. 

I could tell that spirits were high and the road was unfolding beautifully  for our Ike Disaster Relief Team. 

Before the team left the commissary at St. John Neumann was bustling with people donating their time, their treasures and their prayers to this second relief team. 

THANK YOU to everybody who gave of themselves to make this trip possible!

Mobile Loaves & Fishes would especially like to thank Sandra Bullock and her husband Jesse James for their generous support of this trip and of MLF's disaster relief efforts in general. 

Stay tuned for videos that show, first hand, how all of this help has made a difference in people's lives. 

-Rachel

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Pretty tired yet energized about our trip tomorrow. Truly amazed at the MLF volunteers and how they come together in times of need. Today we have nearly 12,000 volunteers in five cities in four states. All ready to serve. Tomorrow we will be in the Galveston area bringing happiness to those most impacted by Hurricane Ike. I really struggle with how storms of this magnitude exacerbate poverty. This is really crushing some people. These are who we seek out on these relief trips; the forgotton ones. Please pray for them. They need our love! -Alan Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

The Commissary is Abuzz

-Alan

What a Response!

WOW!  God bless you!  We are having a great response to our needs for volunteers and resources to allow us to be an extension of you as we travel to Texas City to continue our relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ike.  We will take you with us in our hearts to deliver happiness to the folks on the coast near Galveston.  We are in the happiness business!

Pretty active right now at the commissary getting ready for the 6:00 AM send-off tomorrow morning.  We are loaded with food and supplies and we are headed to Texas City to Peace Lutheran Church which is hosting us this weekend.  Bob Ford our disaster relief coordinator is already on the road to Texas City for a little recon.

We are taking three food trucks, one ladened with ice.  We are also taking our cook trailer which is known nationwide for cookin the "Best Damn Burgers".  Maybe we should call them BDB's.  Also about 40 volunteers to love and serve.

I will video blog some stuff later today of the action at the commissary as well as blog all weekend as we are in the mission fields of the coastal area.

-Alan