Special Mother’s Day for Tornado Families

Some photos from the Mother’s Day Event we put together for the victims of the Alabama Tornadoes

Our event was held at the Monrovia Community Center, while the parents had a meeting outside with local officials and experts in disaster relief and claims.

There were a LOT of folks in attendance

We had all sorts of volunteers come to help.

This is a girl scout troop and after seeing them at work, I decided that what my home needs most is it’s very own troop of girl scouts!

Some little girls making gift bags for their mom’s gifts.

I LOVE this photo. Check out that boy’s smile! Here they are making special hand tiles.

This is the card making table

A reporter from WAFF 48 prepares to interview a little girl, who is enamored with the camera

Interview time! There is a link to this interview at the bottom of this post.

Holding up her artwork 🙂

This is Celeste Bell. If you live anywhere near me, you probably knew that already. Every time I go anywhere at all with Celeste she has this uncanny ability to know everyone. Seriously! She was amazing in setting up the mother’s day card making table and organizing volunteers.

Here is a group of children making tiles for their Moms.

I don’t have a whole lot of photos of the children on here because I didn’t want to post them without parental permission so those you see are the ones I asked specific permission to post.

Some examples of the tiles drying outside.

You can watch the video from the local news station by clicking here.

(it’s a tear jerker)

Once again, thank you all so much for contributing with your thoughts, prayers, and monetary donations. You made this day very special for a great many kids.

Amy, one of our many volunteers who came and spent the day helping with the kids, said that there was a little girl who really worked on her project for a long time. Amy helped her all along the way until she was finally done. At that point the little girl’s aunt stepped up and whispered to Amy that her mother had been killed in the tornadoes. Our hearts broke over that story.

Unless you have lived through something like this, its difficult to imagine what it is like. It seems every day we find out one more person we know lost their home or a family member. Over 350 homes were lost in our area alone, more than three hours away from Tuscaloosa, the area getting the most coverage for the horrific devastation there.

When I went to get the supplies for the Mother’s Day projects, Lowe’s gave me everything at cost. Michael’s donated everything I needed from their store. I was amazed and thrilled at their generosity and that of the many volunteers who showed and stayed for so long to help in any way they could. After everything was gathered for the crafts, I was able to write a check for $1600 to the Monrovia Community Disaster Relief. Rest assured that money will go directly to the families who need it most and it will have a lasting effect on their lives.

It is difficult for all of us to return to “normal” and I don’t think we ever will truly going back to being the same. I think we’ll always hold our loved ones a little closer and count our blessings a little more, and continue to do what we can for those in need.

Thank you for making a difference in the lives of these children on May 7th.

Gratefully,

Christy