Rio Bravo Drive

Laredo Flood Relief

Thank you all so very much for your donations to the BlueStone Flood Relief of 2010!

The day of distribution was on Friday, August 6, 2010 at the elementary school in Rio Bravo. There were 2 key women (whose homes were also destroyed) that helped me organize this event. They had everything organized down to a list of the 40 receiving families and stayed and checked off as the families came in. The few families on the list who were unable to pick up their goodies (elderly people), had their packages personally delivered by these two women. I couldn’t have made it without their help. Thank you Maria and Norma!!

If you see a picture of me holding a 2 week old baby, here is a little history of this family. They had a humble little home in the flooded area of Rio Bravo. The baby girl I am holding was born shortly after the flood. She is baby #6 for this family. The husband decided that losing his home was too much for him to handle, so he left this woman with 6 children to raise alone! They have been sleeping on the floor, no a/c to keep them cool, just hot air blowing in open windows. She feeds her children cereal with water for breakfast. They have no electricity, therefore, no refrigerator, and no milk. A neighbor ran an extension cord from their home to hers so that she could at least plug in the fans that we gave them. She is one of many stories I could tell of what we saw that blistering Friday afternoon.

We contributed to 40 very needy families who are very grateful for the articles they received. It was such a humbling experience for all of us. The smiles, the handshakes, the hugs . . . priceless. After it was all said and done, Mr. & Mrs. King and I drove down to the flooded area and saw many of the families that we gave to, in their homes, cleaning, moving and trying to make it liveable again. That was so warming, knowing that who we gave to really were very needy people. They recognized Mr. T’s noisy diesel truck and looked up to smile and wave at us. They were as happy as they could possibly be. We saw makeshift tents, vans that were being lived in, gutted homes being repaired and kids playing as if nothing ever happened. Life must go on afterall.

Each and everyone who contributed to this drive should pat yourselves on the back and say “Good Job!” You should all have a warm, fuzzy feeling when looking at the pictures, knowing that you helped these unfortunate families.

Each of these 40 families received: air mattresses and pumps, 2 sets of sheets, 2 blankets, 4 towels, 8 plates and glasses, 6-8 bars of body soap, 2 bottles of shampoo, 2 boxes of laundry detergent, 6-8 toothbrushes, 2 boxes of toothpaste, dish detergent and 2 fans per family. The fans and air mattresses were the biggest hits. Their eyes filled with joy when they saw that they could sleep on a mattress and have a fan blowing on them. Awesome!

NBC Full Coverage

Aug 6, 2010

A local company has raised close to $7,000 to help flood victims in Rio Bravo. Everything from air mattresses, sheets, blankets, towels and other necessities were distributed today by representatives of Blue Stone Natural Resources.

The oil company has many of their sites out in the Rio Bravo area and say they felt they needed to give back to flood victims. Now they're challenging other companies to do the same.

Becky Campbell of Blue Stone says, "There’s a big need with all of the flooding, so we decided we needed to help the people of Laredo. So many of them don’t have anything."

40 families received supplies from the group.