![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[OT from cottage renovations]
tomorrow the Grove's gulf coast relief expedition is due to depart and I'm taking the somewhat optimistic view that I'll be in adequate shape to take part. progress on the leg healing front has been slow but cumulative so absent some reversal I'll still have a chance to help out.
our destination is Vancleave, Mississippi:
(click through this map for higher resolution image)
(here's the Google maps link)
four of the group members left yesterday via New Orleans as an advance party; the remainder of us will be flying to Gulfport tomorrow. it will be rather late by the time we get to the camp site but the early arrivals will have covered the orientation briefing for us. exactly what we'll be doing, and where, depends on how much was completed by last week's volunteers. we won't know that until tomorrow night or maybe Tuesday morning.
so far I'm not so much packing as staging things in preparation for it: clothing, bedding, tools and supplies. it all helps to make the prospect a bit more real.
I've never done anything like this: it's as much an opportunity to learn as it is to serve.
[OT from cottage renovations]
Friday evening's bake sale and silent auction for the benefit of the Gulf Coast relief expedition was a success. a wide variety of goods and services were donated and bidding on many items was brisk, particularly as the time began to run short.
the word this morning was that the amount raised was enough to cover the group's travel expenses -- our getting there is now assured -- and to get a good start on covering the equipment and supplies that will be needed.
(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)
McCathran Hall
the event was well attended ...
... by enthusiastic participants of all ages
many thanks to all who organised the event and who donated and, of course, who bid on and purchased items.
I have received some queries about whether and how one could contribute to the project. donations can be sent in care of the Grove's church:
| Washington Grove United Methodist Church
attn: Katrina Relief P.O. Box 115 Washington Grove, MD 20880-0115 |
thank you.
[OT from cottage renovations]
the print for the auction was delivered Wednesday. the Circle is often a challenging address for deliveries and the Fedex Ground driver should get at least some points for having found it at all; for full credit he would have had to have chosen the correct cottage. a message to the Grove listserv asking neighbours to check their doorsteps for stray packages turned it up in a matter of minutes.
the gallery did an excellent job with the printing, matting and framing. here's hoping the high bidder will be pleased with it.
an organisational meeting for expedition crew has been set for next Wednesday, the 20th.
[OT from cottage renovations]
it appears the Grove's gulf coast relief expedition will be heading down in two groups: an advance party of two volunteers will be leaving a couple of days ahead of the rest of us. the main group, myself included, will be flying from Baltimore to Gulfport MS on the evening of Monday 24 March. we're set to return early on Sunday 30 March.
the setting of travel dates moves this whole thing another step from the abstract to the real. watch this space for further details as they become available.
[OT from cottage renovations]
in March the Grove is sending a working party to pitch in on gulf coast rebuilding. this has been in the works for a while though the details are coming together slowly though perhaps it's just the inevitable lag in my own comprehension of them.
here's what I do know:
- the work site is in Mississippi.
though the initial cleanup is said to be finished there's plenty of rebuilding left to do.
- a fundraiser will be held in McCathran Hall on Leap Day.
I am contributing to the silent auction a print of this image: matted, framed and inscribed to the purchaser.
but that's not
allenough:
- I'm going.
and yes, there will be pictures.
[edit: am also offering a "purchaser's pick" offer for a print of the image of their choice, either from the ones already taken or as commissioned by the winning bidder. I don't know how well either of these will do by every bit helps.]