Events To Help Victims of West Explosions & Tornado Relief

I've been collecting a list of events benefiting the relief and rebuilding efforts in West, Texas (listed by location).  I've  decided to also include any benefits to help relief and recovery for victims of the Tornadoes that have ripped through Texas, and our neighbor Oklahoma, and any events in Texas helping the Red Cross (would be happy to add any events benefiting San Antonio flood victims as well...just haven't come across any yet).  Check back as I will continue to update this list.

If you want to donate directly, here's how:

-For places to donate money to West, click here.
-For a List of Needs (items you can help supply), click here.
-For Granbury, you can donate to Mission Granbury  at 817-579-6866.
-Other places to donate to help tornado victims here.
-To help Moore, Oklahoma, more info here and here.

If you know of any other events, please leave a comment and I will add them.

ONLINE

4 West

• T-Shirts for West : Sold Here and Here
• Various items being sold on Etsy to help West.
• West Fire Department Challenge Coin sold to raise money for fallen firefighters families.
• Videos of the Joint Memorial Service for victims of the West Explosion for sale, 100% of profits to Recovery Fund.
• Contact me at ecarian@yahoo.com about buying advertising on this or my other sites to help West.

4 Oklahoma

• T-Shirts 4 Oklahoma Sold Here
• Items being sold on Etsy to help Oklahoma Tornado Victims.
• Cell Phone Cases - 100% of Profits from Oklahoma Designs Go to Red Cross

IN TEXAS - BY CITY

HOUSTON

• SEPTEMBER 8:   A Dinner, Dance, Live Band and Auction to Benefit the West, Texas Disaster Fund will be hosted by SPJST Lodge 88  in the Heights - Contact Kim Bilek Feazle 713.416.3434 or Barbara Jezek Fisher 713.686.7488.

WACO

• AUGUST 22:  West Benifit with Speakers Senator Ted Cruz and Congressmen Bill Flores.  All proceeds go to help West Relief and Recovery.   More Info Here.

WEST

• AUGUST 18:  Elvis Tribute and Throwback Bash benefiting A History of West Museum. Cottonwood Hall, 111 Cottonwood Spur. West, Texas.  3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  More Info Here.
• ANY TIME:  More volunteer opportunities and resources for West Residents are listed on the West Long Term Recovery Page.  They also have added a list of items they are needing, here.  Many of the events I have listed here were found there as well, and they may have others I haven't seen yet.  

If you know of other events benefiting West going on in your town, please let me know in a comment and I'll be happy to add them.

(First Published Tuesday, April 23rd)

Book Drive at HEB

Have some new or gently used kids books your children have outgrown?  HEB is collecting books for children in need as part of their read3 campaign to encourage parents to read to their children 3 times a week.  If you are lucky enough to have an HEB in your area, you can drop them off at bins found at your local HEB.  There's also some fun coloring pages and other freebies on the site.  Click here to learn more.

Ah, just one more reason why I love HEB!

Tornado Update - How to Help

15 tornadoes blew through Texas last week, yet amazingly only 17 people were injured and no one was killed (Praise God!).   However, over 800 homes and businesses were damaged...so there's still a lot of people needing help.

TO HELP FINANCIALLY
You can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, or visit www.redcross.org to donate an amount of your choice online.  The North Texas Response and Relief Network is also accepting donations, which help with supplies for their clean-up work.

OTHER DONATIONS 

Places where you can donate in-kind gifts like canned food, diapers, toiletries, etc. are listed below:

ARLINGTON
Mission Arlington is in asking for donations of non-perishable food and toiletries.  210 W South St Arlington, TX 76010

DALLAS
Dallas Fire Department (April 6 - 11)
North Texas Food Bank

FORNEY
Go to the Forney Recovers Website and click the "I Want to Give" button and then click "Donate Items."   

BLACKLAND/ROYCE CITY
Go to the Blackland/Royce City Recovers Website and click the "I Want to Give" button and then click "Donate Items."

VOLUNTEER
There's info on ways to volunteer below.  Please do not just show up in affected neighborhoods as parking capacity is very limited and homeowners need roads clear so that insurance companies and approved contractors can gain access.

• Sign up to help at Volunteer North Texas.

• North Texas Response and Relief has the following volunteer trips planned (I believe they are daily). You can call 972-293-5590 for more info.

To Lancaster:  4/5/2012 to 4/13/2012
To Royce City:  4/10/2012 to 4/14/2012

• You can sign up to volunteer in Forney at ForneyRecovers.org.

• You can sign up to volunteer in Royce City/Blackland at the Blackland/Royce City Recovers Website.

• Contact Mission Arlington at 817-277-6620 to volunteer in Arlington.

• The North Texas Food Bank needs help distributing food.  

For more updated info on ways to help, visit the following sites:

North Texas Response and Relief
Arlington Tornado Recovery Update Page
ForneyRecovers.org
Blackland/Royce City Recovers Website 


If you know of other resources that should be included here, please let me know in a comment below.

Photo at the top of this post was of Tornado damage in Dallas, and was provided for free non-commercial use under Creative Commons on Flickr by StateFarm.

Bluebonnets and Tornadoes - This is Texas

I had my Wherever Wednessday post all planned out this week. I usually talk about quirky Texas stuff and a lot of it is the stuff I DON'T like about Texas. This week I was gonna brag on one of my favorite things about Texas, namely this...

The gorgeous color-fest which is Texas spring!

But Texas spring also brought something else yesterday,

namely this....

Texas Tornadoes!  NOT one of my fave Texas things.

But they are amazing.  Though I am horrified at the damage they cause, these storms leave me awe-struck too.  I have to admit I watched that video several times gobsmacked that wind, just wind, can pick up a semi like that.  I was thankful to learn no one was in it. 

The tornadoes that came through Texas yesterday missed us  (we did get some golf-ball sized hail though), and no one we know was hurt, thankfully...though my sister-in-law's car got hail damage  (she didn't say how badly...just said "We're ok...our car, not so much.")

Anyways, hope you all are doing ok out there.   If you weren't affected yourself and want to help out those that were hit, Charity Navigator has started up a list of places to donate and you can find a list of places to voluteer, bring canned goods, etc. here.  And, please,  if you know of any other food or clothing drives or anything like that in your area, let me know and I'll share it here.

Oh, and if you like poetry, you might want to check out the poem posted yesterday at Red or Gray.

  

 Stay safe ya'll.

This is Texas

Chartiy Spotlight: Food Bank of West Central Texas

I was browsing some articles on Charity Navigator, and found  the Food Bank of West Central Texas on their Top 10 List of Highly Rated Charities with Low Paid CEOS.  Nice to know that people can donate to this great charity knowing that more of their money goes to help Texans, not to administrative costs!

Sit Down to Stand Up For Kids! OCT 13 - Dallas

Little Chairs for a Big Cause is a fun event being put on by Etsy Dallas to help raise funds for the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center (DCAC),

Small chairs handmade by David Patton of Ferrochie and creatively decorated by Etsy Dallas artists will be auctioned.   Guest can also enjoy free food, drinks, and music. Admission is free, but voluntary charitable donations will be accepted at the door.


WHEN:  October 13th from 6:30 - 9:00pm
WHERE:  The Blue Room at South Side on Lamar (1409 S. Lamar, Dallas TX)

Limeaides for Learning - Free Limeade for Voting!

Sonic’s Limeades for Learning is here again, and I almost missed it!  And it's such a cool program! Teachers submit projects--things they'd like to see happen in their schools and classrooms--and you can vote for your favorites to win money to turn their plans into a reality. In return you get a Free Cherry Limeade! How cool is THAT!

By the way, do they have Sonic's in California now, or just out here in Texas?

How to Help Texas Fire Victims

By now you've most likely heard about the devastating wildfires here in Texas. The American Red Cross of Central Texas is accepting monetary donations, and has a listing of places in Texas you can donate in-kind gifts like canned food, clothing and toiletries.  Scroll down to the bottom of this post for links to other places collecting donations or holding fund-raisers.

If you're near the fires and are looking for info what's happening with them now, where to take livestock, shelters, evacuation routes etc, the TX Storm Chasers Facebook page is a great place to get informed, (Thanks Mom for sharing that!) as is the Texas Wildfires Updates Page.

ONLINE FUNDRAISERS

• Through Ebay Givingworks This list shows all the auctions benifiting the Red Cross of Central Texas.  Auctions may donate all or a portion of proceeds. 
• On Etsy  Some of those listed are donating all of the proceeds, and some only donating a portion, and some may not be donating any longer so check the individual listings for details. 
• Here on Texifornia I'm auctioning off some spots in my next "Souvenir Spotlight" here on Texifornia to help with relief efforts.  Also, I'd be happy to provide other advertising here in exchange for a donation, so please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at ecarian at yahoo dot com if you are interested.

DONATION CENTERS/FUNDRAISERS BY REGION

• Austin Area (Fundraising Events)
• Waco Area

If you know of a listing of places in your area accepting in-kind gifts or raising funds, please leave a link in the comments below and I'll add a link to it.

Also, several Etsians have stepped up to help by donating a portion of their sales. Some of these are featured on Shop4Charity.

Advertise on Texifornia to Help Austin Fire Victims

PRODUCT PROMOTION
 Do you sell Texas themed products?  You can advertise them in my upcoming Souvenir Spotlight where I will be featuring Texas products.  Plus you get an additional promotional post all your own.  ALL the proceeds from these ads will be donated to the Red Cross of Central Texas!  You can bid on these ads through Ebay Giving Works.  Click here check them out and start bidding!


OTHER ADVERTISING
The project wonderful ads on the sidebar are NOT going to support this effort (simply because my earnings from that are automatically applied to my own advertising efforts and is hard to split up)...but if you're interested in a larger side-bar ad or other types of advertising you would like on this site, texifornia.com, or any of my other websites,  I'm open to providing advertising in exchange for a donation.  You can  at contact me at ecarian at yahoo dot com. 

FREE ADVERTISING FOR ITEMS BENIFITING FIRE VICTIMS
If you have a family friendly item being sold to benifit Texas wildfire victims, I am happy to promote it for free.  Contact me at ecarian at yahoo dot com or leave a link to the item in the comments.  Thanks!

Abolitionist Acadamy in San Francisco

I've been meaning to post here about an issue that burden's my heart...SLAVERY. You may not know (I didn't until a few years ago) that though slavery is now illegal all over the world, there are more people enslaved now than there were before the Civil War. I'm not talking about people who work for poor wages...I mean actual slavery, where people are forced to into labor or prostitution by threat of violence and are not allowed to leave. And it happens everywhere, even in the United States.

I will be writing more about how this affects Texas and California soon, but for now I wanted to share about some 1 week Abolutionist traning opportunities in San Francisco coming up.

UPCOMING INVESTIGATOR ACADEMIES:

San Francisco | May 30 - June 3, 2011

San Francisco | July 18-22, 2011

San Francisco | August 1-5, 2011

 

UPCOMING AFTERCARE ACADEMIES:

San Francisco | July 7-15

UPCOMING SUPPLY CHAIN ACADEMIES:

San Francisco |  July 25-29

San Francisco | August 8-12

For more info click here.

A New Photo Site Supporting Cameron Park Zoo

I love Cameron Park Zoo here in Waco. Its a small zoo, but well taken care of, with lots spots for kids to stop and play in.   We always enjoy visiting.  And we always take lots of pictures when we go.  Here's one we got of a napping lion.

I just learned that Cameron Park has opened a photo site, Cameron Park Zoo Photos, where you can make photo gifts like posters, cards, and photobooks, and 25% of the profits go to support Cameron Park!  And, now through April 22, Big Photos will donate one dollar for each new user that registers on the site!  Since Cameron Park is a non-profit that sometimes struggles for funding, I'm glad to have another way to help them out.

The coolest thing about the Cameron Park Photo Site, in my opinion, is that they have galleries with wonderful pictures from Cameron Park that you can use alongside your own pictures.   So, say you took a picture of your child with a giraffe in the background...

...but you didn't get any good close-ups of the giraffe to go along with it.  If you are making a photo book through CameronParkZooPhotos.com you can pick out one of their great giraffe photos to use alongside your own photos.  

All the photos in their galleries are of Cameron Park animals, so you can feel happy knowing the pictures you choose are of the actual animals you saw at the zoo.  And it's easy to move and resize pictures, change the layout, or add text, too!

You can also get $5 off Photo Books with coupon code HOLSM.

Visit Cameron Park Zoo Photos

The Tsunami in California

Though it's nothing compared to what happened in Japan, California was also hit by the Tsunami.  I don't believe homes on land were affected (I could be wrong about that) but some people who lived aboard their boats lost their homes.

As someone who grew up living aboard, the news story above saddened me.  Here's a clip from it if you have trouble watching video: 

Time and opportunity are two commodities that once lost, we do not usually get back. For Jody Connolly of Santa Cruz, they are the difference between calling a particular 30-foot boat "home" or a total loss.

"If I had known that it was going to be more than a foot tsunami, which was being predicted through the news and the Weather Channel, I would have easily taken my boat out to sea," he said.

Connolly says they had ten hours warning, but no one in Santa Cruz harbor expected tsunami surges like the ones that hit last Friday.

I contacted the Santa Cruz chamber of commerce, and found out that they are taking donations for people who lost the boats they lived on.  The Red cross in Santa Cruz is collecting donations both for local relief efforts and for Japan.

Donations of cash or checks made payable to either “BFCU for American Red Cross Japan Relief Fund” or “BFCU for American Red Cross Santa Cruz Relief Fund” can be made:

• In person at any Bay Federal Credit Union Branch
• By mail, addressed to:
  

  Bay Federal Credit Union,
  Attention: Tsunami Relief
  3333 Clares Street
  Capitola, CA 95010 

• Online at www.bayfed.com. 

If you want to volunteer to help with clean-up you can contact:

http://www.saveourshores.org/

Phone: (831) 462-5660

Prayers for Those Affected by the Earthquakes/Tsunamis

I have been blown away as I've watched videos on CNN of the earthquake and Tsunami that have devasted Japan and other areas in Asia.  Tsunamis have even reached California, a danger that I was aware of as a child growing up on a boat in Southern CA, but luckily never experienced.   It's amazing that an event on the other side of the Pacific can have effects that far reaching.

I've experienced Earthquakes too, but nothing compared to what they experienced in Japan.  Please keep all affected in your prayers.

And, if you would like to help in other ways, here's some links....

Charity Navigators List of Places to Donate

CNNs Ways to Help

CALIFORNIANS:  LOCAL WAYS TO HELP

I've read Crescent City and Santa Cruz were the hardest
hit in California, so you might contact local organizations there
if you are near enough to help with the clean-up.

The sister of the Harbor manager in Crescent City happens to
be part of a forum I'm a memeber of, and she suggested
contactings the Crescent City The Chamber of Commerce
if you want to volunteer to help with the clean up.  I'm including info
for both Santa Cruz and Cresent City Chamber of Commerces below:

Crescent City Chamber of Commerce
1001 Front Street
Crescent City, CA 95531-4133
(707) 464-3174

Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce
Sn Street, Ste. 1 Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 457-3713

Also, in Redondo, a clean-up of King Harbor Marina from the
sardines that for some un-explained reason flooded into the area last
week was put on hold because of the Tsunami.  As late as March 9
they were still needing volunteers and may stil need them.

If you know of any local California efforts that

people can help with, please e-mail me at 

ecarian at yahoo dot com  so I can include them here.

Here's a news article showing some of the damage to California and the west coast...
again, nothing compared to what people experienced in Japan, but still bad.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

MAY 9: The Easiest Food Drive EVER!

Stamp Out Hunger is easiest food drive ever! Seriously, you don't have to take the food anywhere but your mailbox--and the post office will pick it up for you for free! How easy is that!

This is also a great time to do some spring cleaning of your cabinets. Do you know that canned food, and boxed food, expires? Yes, it does. So, take a look in your cabinets...check the expiration dates on that food, and ask yourself, am I really going to use this before it expires? If you don't think you will, why not toss it in a box and put it by your mailbox May 8? (And if it's already expired, toss it out, for your own safety).

Waco Coupons Giveaway - And How to Use Expired Coupons!

Would you like an envelope of coupons you can use in Waco and surrounding areas (and a few coupons you can use anywhere?). It even includes a coupons for a free Frape at McDonalds! I'm giving the envelope away to one person who leaves a comment below. Make sure to leave your e-mail so I can contact you.

Winner will be chosen May 3rd using Random.org or a names picked out of a hat by one of my children (if there is no comments by then, I'll extend it). Giveaway open to residents of Waco, TX and surrounding area only (cause most of these coupons aren't good outside of Waco, Hewitt, Killeen, etc.).

Got a bunch of coupons you can't use? Got expired coupons? Join the Expires Coupon Project and send them to a military family! Military families stationed overseas can use them up to 6 months after they expire.

.

Advertise Here - Support a Good Cause

I've decided to sell advertising on this blog, the Texifornia main website, and my other sites to raise money for  MercyCorps, an organization that's working in Haiti and other places affected by disaster, war, and oppression around the world.  I'm not affiliated with MercyCorps - this is just something I'm choosing to do on my own accord.  I also sell advertising through Project Wonderful which does not go to support charity (mainly, it goes to right back into advertising for my own site).

The following spots are available on Texifornia for $1.

Texifornia - Front Page 
STATS: Around 95 hits per month
AD SPOTS:
Side Bar Text Link (Max 20 Characters) - 2 years
Side Bar Mini-Banner (Max 125 x 60) - 2 years
Side Bar Button (Max 125 x 125 ) - 1 year
Side Bar LARGE BANNER (Max 125 x 240) - 6 months
Bottom Banner (Max 468 x 60) - 2 years
Bottom Banner (Max 468 x 300) - 1 year

Texas Jokes Main Page
STATS: Around 250 hits per month
AD SPOTS:
Bottom Banner (Max 468 x 80) - 2 years
Top Square (125 x 125)* - 1 year (or 2 years for Zazzle affiliate links)
*This ad spot is only available to humorous ads related to Texas

Texas Joke: You Know You're Texan When Page
STATS: Around 125 hits per month
AD SPOT:
Top Banner (max 468 x 60) - 1 year


Texas Joke: Texas State
STATS: Around 95 hits per month
AD SPOTS:
Top Banner (max 468 x 60) - 1 year

Texifornia Blog
STATS: Around 20 hits per month
AD SPOTS:
234 x 60 or 125 x 125 or smaller banner in side-bar for 1 year.
A blog post about your Texas or California related product (will remain on blog indefinitely).  For consumable items like soap or food, and some other products, I may require a sample to try so I can write a proper review.  This is usually not the case for things like t-shirts or jewelery where I can see a lot about the product just from a picture.
FREE:  Will list any Texifornian's blogs (Californians from Texas or Texans from Californian) in our blogroll for free, no donation necessary (but don't let that stop you...it's a good cause!).


For a complete list of sites I'm offering ad space on, click here.


To order, contact me and let me know what ad spot you're interested in.

Websites must be pre-approved, cause you see I'm sort of picky about what sites I link too...I don't want to link to places with porn, racism, vulgarity, or any of a number of other things I feel conflict with my ethics and beliefs. So, I want to screen sites first. But that being said, for just $1 donation to you can get up to two years of advertising? Not bad, is it? It's worth asking first, for, right?

And if you would like to offer advertising on your own site to raise money for a charity you care about, or find out more places where you can buy advertising that goes to support a good cause, click here.

Hot and Not Hot Wednesday

NOT
An earthquake has leveled most of Port-au-Prince, Haiti (Hait's capital city, population around 200,000), and has affected nearly 3 million people -- one-third of Haiti's population.

HOT
Sending help. There's a list of places to donate on Charity Navigator. I will be giving to Mercy Corps, an organization I've been watching for several years after it was sited by Charity Navigator as having one of the most affective and well-organized responses to relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina.



Below are two places that also support Mercy Corp when you click (that's right, all you have to do is click on a page on their site - advertising on the site pays for the donation).

. ..............
Just click the pictures above. Clicks support several charities, including Mercy Corps. I'm not sure if any of the funds earned for Mercy Corps through those site will specifically go to Haiti relief, BUT any funds going to this charity should help, since they free up more non-allocated funds to go to disaster relief. And it's quick and free, so why not try it?

---

Thanks as always to Loobylu for starting Hot or Now Wednesdays! Visit her Mr. Linky to see others who are participating.

Prayers for Fort Hood

I just read the text of the speech Obama made Tuesday honoring the 13 people killed in the recent Fort Hood shooting. He named each of their names and told their stories, and I was saddened and moved as I read; Moved by the lives that they lived, saddened by the breadth of the loss. For those who pray, I encourage you to read this speech, praying for the families of each person named as you read...and for the Fort Hood community and the wounded still recovering.

I'd also like to share something a woman I knew shared with me shortly after the 9/11 tragedy. I was reminded of it as I wrote this today. The following is her words:

Trying to explain today's tragedies to my 6 year old son, I said, "Jonah, we need to pray to Jesus, because bad people have crashed airplanes into big buildings, and lots of people have had one of their family members die today."

Jonah said, "O.k. Mommy" and he folded his hands, then on his own initiative, he began to pray outloud. He prayed a prayer that both surprised me and humbled me.

Jonah said, "Dear Jesus, show those bad men your goodness. Blast the devil from their hearts Jesus, and blast it full of your goodness."

I was shocked. I had not asked Jonah to pray for the "bad men", in fact, it had not even crossed my mind to pray for the terrorists behind these awful events.

Just a few weeks ago in Children's Church, Jonah's memory verse had been "Love your enemy". Jonah had been very impressed by this particular verse, because he talked about it with me and his Daddy, and his prayer today proved that he took that verse to heart.

Today God used my son to show me that we are truly to be "as little children", and to put our trust in Him, our Father. In such a fearful time, He is the only one we can turn to who can bring comfort and healing to our hearts, and to the hearts of those grieving.

Only God can bring change to a heart, and God desires that we pray for all who have been effected by todays tragedies, the innocent hearts, as well as the guilty hearts.

With this in mind, remembering Jesus' call to love our enemies and pray for those persecute us, I believe that God would also want us to also pray for the shooter who caused the Fort Hood tragedy, Nidal Malik Hasan.

On May 9, 2009 you can join Stamp Out Hunger in providing food for needy families by leaving non-perishable food donations in a bag next to your mailbox for your letter carrier. What could be easier than that?

On a related note, did you know that canned food expires? YEP, that's right. So do many boxed products. I like to go through my cabinets once or twice a year, toss the stuff that's past the expiration date, and donate items that I might not get a chance to use before they expire.