Time to Respond
By Ashley Bean Thornton
I stand in awe of the first responders. Here’s one story I heard: Having seen the fire and fearing the worst, a young mother, 15-month old baby in her arms, ran into her house to grab shoes and a diaper bag before leaving. They weren’t quite quick enough though. The plant exploded while they were still inside. The young father watched in horror from the front yard as the glass from their sunny front window, once such a beautiful part of their home, became a deadly force flying in shards toward his family. Miraculously, Mom and daughter were safe. They had stepped around a corner into an interior hall just as the blast occurred. They scrambled out of their wrecked home and into their damaged-but-drivable Jeep and headed out to put a safe distance between themselves and the burning fertilizer plant. But Dad, a volunteer fireman, did not go with them. As his wife pulled out of town, he waved good-bye to his own family, so recently and mercifully spared, and ran toward the blast zone to help others. There are no words…
I stand in awe of the second, third and fourth responders. The folks who know how to bind up wounds and board up houses; the organizers who can find a place for the piles of water bottles, and clothes, and diapers; the comforters who can hold a hand and bring a moment’s peace; the competent ones who know how to make and serve coffee for the multitudes – all of these people are heroes to me. I’m terrible at all of that kind of thing, paralyzed by the chaos, I’m more in-the-way than helpful.
All day Thursday and Friday I monitored the media. Through the window of my computer screen, I watched the tide of help roll in while I sat in my office. Eventually I began to see notes like this: “We are hearing from pretty much every official that we speak to that monetary donations are needed at this time.” A way for me to respond! I may not know exactly what to do in a crisis, but I dang sure know how to write a check! We all have some part to play, and this is my part for now.
- Donate money to the relief at Point West Bank & Trust (254) 826-5333. on-line at http://www.pointwestbank.com/
- Visit Waco Foundation’s website, www.wacofoundation.org, and click the “West, Texas Disaster Relief Efforts Fund” link on the homepage.
- Online giving portal on the Baylor University website: www.baylor.edu/relief/give.