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New York City Firefighters Bring
Holiday Cheer to 200 Young Survivors of Greensburg, Kansas Tornado:
(90 updated photos)
 Read
the complete account from
Jeff of NewYorkSaysThankYou.org:
Dear
Friends of NEW YORK SAYS THANK YOU:
You
helped to touch the lives of 220 children in Greensburg, Kansas last
week and lift the spirits of an entire community. Allow me to
explain.
On
May 4 of this year, an F5 tornado wiped out 95% of Greensburg,
Kansas, a small farming community in South Central Kansas. In just a
few minutes, 13 people died and an entire American town was
literally wiped off the map. Of the original population of 1,500
residents, 700 people remain in Greensburg, almost all of them
living in FEMA trailers in a field just south of town. Among the
remaining residents are 220 school-age children pre-K thru high
school.
The
landscape of Greensburg, Kansas looks like a nuclear war zone.
Nothing is left. Just empty lots. Exposed basements where houses
once stood. Twisted trees snapped in half and devoid of leaves.
There is quite simply no color left in town.
That
was until New York Says Thank You did something about it last week.
With
the help of 2 FDNY firefighters (one was FF Jimmy Sands of our
House) and the Vincent family of Groesbeck,
Texas, we painted 220 “Stars of Hope” with every single child in
Greensburg, Kansas last week. Each star was decorated with brilliant
colors and words of inspiration. HOPE. FAITH. BELIEVE. We then took
each one of the stars and attached them to bright green 4-foot
spikes that we planted in every single corner of the tornado ravaged
town.
We
literally planted HOPE in Greensburg, Kansas last week by empowering
the children of Greensburg to bring back color and a sense of
community to the devastated landscape. At the town meeting in the
temporary gymnasium last Thursday evening, over 600 residents stood
up and gave us a standing ovation for the “Stars of Hope” project.
Imagine 600 people who lost every one of their worldly possessions
-- and their whole town – standing and applauding us because we
showed up with a few New York City firefighters and painted stars
with their children for a few hours. It was a moment I will never
forget -- and those applause belong to you.
Through
your support, you enable us to rebuild hope. Whether in the form of
a new home for the Vincent family of Groesbeck, Texas, or helping to
clear the burned-out home sites of the Lachenbruch and Carter
families of San Diego, or whether painting brightly colored stars
with over 200 young survivors of one of the worst tornadoes in
American history. You enable us to rebuild HOPE. Both in the people
we help and within the hearts of our volunteers.
And
finally, please help us to refill our coffers so that we can make an
even greater impact on the lives of people all across the United
States and among our volunteers in 2008. Whether you donate $1, $100
or $1,000, any amount you donate will help us to continue to lift
the spirits of special people and communities in need. Donate at our website at
www.NewYorkSaysThankYou.org.
My
sincere best wishes to you and your family for a joyous New Year
and, as always, my deepest gratitude for your continued support of
The New York Says Thank You Foundation and our sacred mission - "From
1 day of terror, 10 years of Kindness."
Jeff Parness
The New York Says Thank You Foundation
www.NewYorkSaysThankYou.org
917-806-8061
THE
NEW YORK SAYS THANK YOU FOUNDATION
The
mission of The New York Says Thank You Foundation is to commemorate
the kindness extended to New Yorkers by Americans from all across
the country in the days, weeks, and months following 9/11, by
sending volunteers from New York City each year on the 9/11
Anniversary to help rebuild communities around the United States
affected by natural or man-made disasters. The New York Says Thank
You Foundation is registered as a charitable tax-exempt organization
under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is
incorporated under section 402 of the New York State Not-For-Profit
Corporation Law. For more information, please see
www.NewYorkSaysThankYou.org |
