Everyone is aware of what took place in Nashville May 1-2. My sister lives downtown, between 1st and 2nd Avenues. We texted and talked several times over those two days. For the longest time she thought she'd ride out the storm in her apartment. She's on the third floor so there didn't seem to be any reason to worry.
On Sunday the 2nd, when water started flowing into her parking lot, she decided it was time to leave. It took her about an hour and a half to drive what is normally a twenty minute trip to a friend's house. It didn't seem like a huge inconvenience at the time. We thought she might be there for one, possibly two nights.
Tonight will be the tenth night she's been out of her home. There is still no electricity to her building. At least she has a home even if she can't get back into it yet. The people in the first floor of her building (along with thousands of others) have nothing. The picture above is her building.
So a few days ago I was wishing I had the time to take a trip over there; to help her and anyone else I know (or don't) when my phone rang. It was Montie Downs and if you know Montie you know she's going to make things happen and get things done. So there she was asking about my sister and whether she was affected. To make a long story not quite as long, as a result of that, John Downs and I loaded and I mean loaded our Expedition with everything from rubber gloves and masks to bottled water, food and cleaning supplies tonight.
Lisa and I are heading out tomorrow. We'll start at my sister's building and go from there. Many of you helped make it happen. Besides the Downs, Jody Miller deserves special praise for getting us to this point. Geoff Mabe did a great job of rallying folks to the cause. Then there's many of you, the ones that gave so much in items, money and gift cards.
Now obviously not all of this is going to my sister. I'm sure the bulk of it will go to the tenants and staff working on cleaning and fixing the first floor of the building. I can tell you the effort has already been appreciated.
I'll keep you posted so hopefully you'll check back from time to time. I hope to gather information tomorrow about helping rebuild homes in case anyone is interested. I'm sure this won't be the only trip from this area that myself or perhaps one of you will make to Nashville in the coming weeks. Keep collecting items! I'll post all relevant info here but you're free to email me as well. Thanks for your support.
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