Single Parent Retreat

It’s amazing how fast things happen!  The past couple of days have been hell for the Midwest.  Oklahoma was pounded with Tornadoes and an entire town obliterated.  News reports run rampant of the death toll from 2, to 4 to 25 to 100 people.  In reality, the Medical Examiner’s office said, as of early AM hours today, 21 people were dead.  This is still a high count and the number of people affected by those deaths, even larger.  This is a risk that those in “Tornado Alley” face, but, it still sucks when it happens.  I have family that live in Oklahoma, not too far from the town that was destroyed.  I was worried about them and posted on Facebook for them to check in when they were able to.  My Uncle responded to let me know they were ok, one cousins family had to seek shelter and other cousins called and checked in as well.  Another cousin had to trekk to a daycare and in his words, what normally takes 15 minutes took four hours.  He posted pictures of what he saw on his wall, and it was scary to see.  I can’t imagine going through it!  The devastation was massive.  Look anywhere online, there are pictures everywhere of the damage.

In my news feed on Facebook, I’m sharing posts left and right, along with many other people, about families stuck and if anyone can help, please do so.  Posting about children found, they are ok and numbers to call to meet up and return to the rightful families.  Social Media gets a lot of flack about the use, dangers, etc, but, without Social Media, the information to help families, wouldn’t get out there as quickly.  It definitely brings a nation together and makes it a smaller place to be.  Everyone knows someone in those areas.  I have friends from Oklahoma as well as family in my friends list.  They have their friends and they have their friends.  It’s the 6 degrees of the USA.  Word will get out there and the right person will read the post for help and will be able to get out there to help.

Photo found on Oklahoma Nation Facebook Page

It’s also nice to be able to see the good things that happen in the aftermath.  I just watched this video where the woman thought her dog died.  During the interview, someone in the background all of a sudden said, “The Dog!  There’s the dog!”  The camera crew then helped the lady get her dog out from under debris.  On the flip side, there is the sad stories that is shared with the nation, of family members who were killed.  But, that is Social Media, it helps people get their stories out there and to also honor those that are no longer with us.

You can check out the video I mentioned about the dog HERE.

Are you able to help and donate to help with Oklahoma relief?  There are several ways:

TEXT BASED DONATION INFORMATION: STORM to 80888 for The Salvation Army USA. REDCROSS to 90999 for Redcross, SP to 80888 for Samaritan’s Purse or FOOD to 32333 for Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Each text is for $10 charged to your phone bill.

Make sure to check out Oklahoma Nation Facebook Page for more information on how you can help!

{ 5 comments }