Stewardship

Flood Relief

Posted on by christushealth
Reading time 5 minutes

Central and Northern Louisiana and Southeast Texas have been facing an immense amount of challenges. Mother Nature has dealt out record flooding.  According to the Associated Press, four people have died; the National Guard has rescued nearly 3,300 lives and almost 5,000 homes in Louisiana have been damaged by flooding.  An estimated, 10,000 people have been displaced in Southeast Texas.

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With all this happening there have been major road closures and an immense amount of uncertainty about how much more damage the region is facing.

 

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In the face of so many challenges, the CHRISTUS family is helping its communities.  Many of our Associates have stepped up, and reached out to assist those suffering from the destruction caused by the recent flooding.  There are truly so many amazing stories to tell of CHRISTUS individuals volunteering or offering assistance to those suffering.

 

 

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The PACU staff at CHRISTUS Highland have such giving spirits.  Amanda Boyer and Cammie Recer made the purchases and delivery but the PACU chipped in with funds.  They donated money for the relief effort, went to Wal-Mart in Bossier and bough blankets, food, water, toiletries, socks and t-shirts and then delivered them to the relief site.  When the workers at Wal-Mart found out what they were doing, they purchased and donated blankets and toiletries with the PACU Staff also delivered

 

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CHRISTUS Associate, Becky Ledford, in the Deweyville High School Gymnasium where donated relief supplies is being sorted and then taken out to damaged homes as part of the recovery effort

 

One of those stories is that of Becky Ledford.  She’s pictured above and is a Practice Administrator for the CHRISTUS Southeast Texas Wound Care Clinic.  She’s wearing a different hat in the picture.  She also is a Red Cross Volunteer.  The pictures she shared can tell you what one person with a smile and determination can do when they set their mind to help others.

Becky and other CHRISTUS Associates get it. They see, as compassionate healthcare providers and as humans, what it means when disaster strikes and suddenly people who only a day before were living their normal lives are left with only the clothes on their backs, and a feeling of despair.

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Becky and her sister, Tina Wise, at the Red Cross Command Center with   the Army National Guard  out of Houston, Texas.

 

Sometimes all it takes is for us, as human beings, to give others the help they need to make it through is stepping up to lend a helping hand to other disaster victims.

There’s a personal reason Becky helps through the Red Cross. When Hurricane Rita ripped through her community in September 2005, she returned to eight trees on her house. Later, in 2008 Hurricane Ike destroyed her daughter’s home. Each time Becky explains the Red Cross was there.

“I was never happier than when the Red Cross pulled up to my damaged home with a hot meal and cleaning supplies. For two weeks, I didn’t have electricity. I was exhausted and I owe it to others to give back the way the Red Cross and other people gave back to me.”

For Associates who are not able to help on the ground, they are assisting in other ways.  Many have decided to give a one time donation from an April paycheck.

Becky explains it is the CHRISTUS way. “We extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. We don’t do that just in the walls of a clinic or hospital. We do it throughout our lives in good times and bad.”