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The staff at Big Buddy are busy collecting supplies and getting ready for our big backpack giveaway in August. We could use your help! How? You could hold a school supply Drive and collect supplies at your work or church or in your neighborhood. You could also do a sock and underwear drive to help with back to school needs. You could bake cookies or provide snacks for the kids at the event. Of course monetary donations are always accepted and will go towards filling the gaps for what we need that day.
You could also become a big buddy & help one of our kids have an amazing summer. Or if you can’t do the ongoing commitment you could come out and help the day of the giveaway. We will need people to help pass out school supplies, distribute snacks, do arts and crafts, play games, and we also need people to help take the kids paddle boating on the lake. With your help, we will be providing backpacks and school supplies and a fun afternoon to about 200 kids. For more information contact Chris at [email protected] or sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F094CADA72FA5FB6-back4
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2Share Furniture Pickups and Deliveries
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f094cada72fa5fb6-volunteers2 2SHARE Furniture is in need of volunteers to help with a combination of furniture pickups and deliveries in Wilmington. Volunteers are needed on Saturdays from 8:30am to 1:00pm. Volunteers will meet at the UHaul truck parking area at Lloyd's Rental and Storage on Market Street and will be working with a driver and other volunteers. 2SHARE Furniture is a volunteer project supported by a number of local churches and organizations. The project is a way to donate furniture in good condition to people who need it, especially in the wake of Hurricane Florence. New Hanover County Shelter Drills https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f094cada72fa5fb6-volunteers3 Volunteers are needed to help with New Hanover County Shelter Drills. Volunteers will help with logistics, setup, and be "shelter clients" for the registration portion of the drill. We are also seeking volunteers who could volunteer at all 5 locations, if you can help please email us by July 1st. Wilmington Diaper Bank https://ncdiaperbank.org/lower-cape-fear The Diaper Bank of NC is always in need of volunteers! Come volunteer anytime between 9:30-11:30 am on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays. No advance registration or ongoing commitment is required; people simply show up when they can, even if it's only for 30 minutes. In addition to our drop-in hours, we also schedule groups of ten or more people to volunteer outside of our drop-in hours. We also need community members to organize diaper drives in the community at schools, neighborhoods, faith communities, sports teams, workplaces, scout groups, or other community groups. Please contact us and we can provide a diaper drive toolkit with more information. Our warehouse is located at 915 S. 16th Street next to Walgreens (formerly Rite Aide). When you pass Walgreens on your left, the entrance to the Diaper Bank parking lot is the first driveway on your left. The Diaper Bank is a family friendly volunteer site and all little ones are welcome. There is a kids playroom for children to have a safe, fun time while the adults are working! We are open for walk-in volunteers Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 9:30-11:30. With advance planning, groups of ten or more can be scheduled outside of these days and times. UNCW Move-In Day https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F094CADA72FA5FB6-uncwilmington UNCW Freshmen need you help for Move-In Day 2019! Please be able to lift at least 10-20 pounds. Use the link above to find a time that works for you!  Willie Vereen and his wife Gail have been rebuilding their home and lives following Hurricane Florence. After the hurricane, their home was infested with black mold. However, with the help of the Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity, their home was restored in six weeks and Gail stated, “Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity did a wonderful job on this house.” Willie and Gail also received furniture through the Cape Fear Volunteer Center and the Furniture Finders program. They were excited to arrange their new furniture and decorate their restored home, including an item standing proud in the corner of their house, a 40th anniversary poster, “Don’t Forget the Wilmington 10.”
Willie Vereen is a member of the Wilmington 10, a group of 9 black men and 1 white woman, who were falsely convicted of charges of assault and arson in 1972 following a boycott protesting for equal treatment in Wilmington schools. Willie was arrested at 17, he is now 65. Willie served time in prison before the Wilmington 10 received their full pardon of innocence by Governor Perdue in 2012. Willie is a musician, a husband, a protector of the defenseless, and a person who was victimized by racism. Willie described the racial divides, inequality, and problems in Wilmington as present before the boycott and stated “some things make no sense.” The harm inflicted on Willie and the Wilmington 10 took aspects of their lives that are irretrievable, and following their release and pardons, Willie described the community backlash as “no one would have anything to do with us…we were like people without a country.” The obvious injustices inflicted on Willie and the Wilmington 10 are a horrific truth of the history of Wilmington, however Willie and Gail expressed their sentiments of appreciation in finding community following Hurricane Florence. Gail recounted the days after the storm when “a lot of houses were affected and a lot of people didn’t know where to go.” In their own house, they had no power, but their neighbors brought them a generator. “They gave us power” Gail said, “everybody came together pretty much in the neighborhood.” Through their neighbors coming together to help and the aid provided by Habitat for Humanity and the Cape Fear Volunteer Center, Wilmington is rebuilding and supporting its own to work for better and for each other.  Hurricane season has begun, so we sat down with Steven Pfaff, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist of the National Weather Service in Wilmington, to learn about hurricanes and how to prepare. With the abundance of information about the weather on the internet, from the government, schools, and various news outlets, Pfaff stressed the importance of using an ensemble of information and models to accurately predict and prepare for impending weather. Storm impact is influenced by many factors including intensity, wind speed, flood risk, and storm surge. Knowing your unique risk and ensuring you have a plan and materials to protect yourself and your home is essential for safety and recovery. Pfaff suggests viewing multiple hurricane models from credible sources and says “it’s always recommended to plan for one hurricane higher in wind category than what is forecasted to occur.”
An obstacle for adequate preparations is understanding your models and sources, “there’s a lot of misinformation…people need to redirect what they’re seeing and reading to credible sources.” Depending on just one model fails to account for the biases of different models and lacks comparisons to other models and factors. Pfaff suggested weather news briefings and hurricane expert reports as sources of information for the public. The internet and social media can pose as a dangerous news source that can discourage people from evacuating or preparing, if you see a bias or fake weather report, “just because you can share it doesn’t mean you should.” The long-term recovery from Hurricane Florence is a task the Wilmington community continues to tackle. Make plans for future storms by knowing your risk, having an evacuation plan, and utilizing credible weather sources. To protect ourselves and our community, Pfaff concluded that “we need communities that are ready, responsive, and resilient.” |
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