Who Do We Notify? Warming Center; Soup Brigade; Needs; Fire; Song: Doggone Cowboy

CONTENTS 2/12/2021
Who Do We Notify?
Hot Water Bottles
Depot Market Warming Center
Soup Brigade
Needs
Stuff I’ve Spent Your Money On
Geri Encampment Fire
Radio Free Fl!p: Doggone Cowboy

WHO DO WE NOTIFY?

I had two different people write to ask what to do when they saw someone sleeping out in the weather tonight. It sure is cold out there!

You can call 911 and ask for a Welfare Check. Keep extra gloves and protein bars (non-crunchy) with you to share. I have lots of cheap gloves here if you want a couple pairs to have along.

Depot Market Warming Center, for those who desire/need, had about a dozen beds open at 10 PM. They might squeeze in more. If Depot fills up tonight, then our local community can encourage another building to be heated and opened if there is a need.

I also asked my various outreach buddies. Here are some of their responses:

Encourage the person walking by to stop and greet the person.

They were right there. Just 5 minutes time.  They can even ask if they can make a courtesy call to medics for a welfare check and possible ride to the warming center.

It’s also possible as a citizen walking alone, to stop, wait for another neighbor to walk past, and say, hey, I need your help, I want to check in and ask this person what they need and if there is someone I can phone for them.

It’s also possible, if they are quietly sleeping, to leave a package of hand warmers and a protein bar next to them.

It’s also possible to stop near someone resting outside, call a family or friend in the phone, tell them exactly where you are, ask them to listen in to your conversation.

Then, when you know the person’s needs, ask the person you’ve called, most likely sitting in a heated home, to assist you to support your neighbor lying on the street with their needs.  They might appreciate something as simple as a hot cup of soup or hot cocoa or an extra hat or gloves.

It’s so easy to lose our gloves.

——

Re: Outreach to unsheltered citizens on the streets and woods – All of us citizens and neighbors are the ones available to say “Hello, how are you? How can I help.“

It’s Us.

Don’t walk past.

There are no HOT team members out at night looking.

There are no medics out at night looking.

Every citizen who walks or drives is our community force of Samaritan citizens, outreaching and caring for each other in solidarity.

Encourage your neighbors to see each other.

Create outdoor soup or burrito kiosk to offer a some warmth to those without power, without shelter, without a safe family that can welcome them home.

It’s All of Us Together.

Creating Community. 

HOT WATER BOTTLES

You can offer a soda bottle filled with hot water to cuddle up with. Tucked between legs it can help warm the whole body. Make sure to get the bottles with thick lids, and squeeze just a little water out to ease the pressure. Get all the air out and get the lid on tight. But don’t drink that water. Hot water and plastic bottles are not a healthy combination. If you keep some bottles in your car, you can probably find a restaurant or some such nearby to help you fill it with hot water.

DEPOT MARKET WARMING CENTER

UPDATE 2/11/21: Thank you, Bellingham! We have an abundance of volunteers for the warming site. We’ll update this page and the City’s Facebook page if more volunteers are needed in the days ahead.

Donations

  • Prepackaged snacks and hand-warmers are welcome donations. Please deliver to the front desk at the door facing Maple Street.
  • Currently, we are not taking donations in the form of clothing, prepared food, blankets, or other bedding materials at the Depot Market Square warming site.

Cup-o-noodles, oatmeal, and other more substantial food that can be made by adding hot water would be particularly helpful.

If you can find a way to donate a blanket to someone outside, it looks like they would be permitted to take it in with them. It’s not particularly warm inside, though far better than outside. No blankets are provided there.

SOUP BRIGADE

We’re still figuring out how best to get hot food into cold hands and hungry bellies. I am deeply moved by all the folks coming forward to help. So far, the best thing seems to be for you to email me, and I’ll call you when I get time (tomorrow is crazy) and we’ll figure out what you’d like to cook, and how I can support you. Then we’ll set a date for you to deliver around 25 hot meals to SwiftHaven. I may be able to arrange pick-up if needed. I can sign up 2 or 3 cooks a night, depending on available outreach volunteers. You can pick up ingredients, pots, and to-go containers from me. The big pots are loaners. It’s a soup brigade, but really what we need most is casseroles. So much easier not to spill during transport.

Right now I have a lovely ham that would be a great thing to build a meal around! Reserve it please! Rice, lentils, split peas, pasta, cheese, onions, carrots, eggs, bacon… (Ooo! I have a recipe for a French-toast like casserole with bacon & cheese, and I think we have all the ingredients needed to make it.)

Please email me at flip@columbianeighborhood.org, and put Soup Brigade in the subject line.

NEEDS

Brand new inexpensive ($15?) sleeping bags
    still in the package!
Cup-o-noodle snacks
Oatmeal Cups
H
ot cocoa mix
AA & AAA Batteries
Hand & toe warmers
Mylar blankets
Ski clothes and gloves
Big black garbage bags – 33 gallon type, preferably heavy weight

STUFF I’VE SPENT YOUR MONEY ON

It’s been amazing to hear of a need and just be able to go fill it. Thank you!!!
Closed cell ground pads with mylar coating
60 headlamps that use AA batteries
120 pairs of cheap gloves
Hand and toe warmers
Garbage bags in huge rolls
Blue laundry brigade bags
      (we could still use more volunteers)
50+ Tarps
A couple emergency hotel rooms
Straw Bales
Endless ingredients, containers, and a few huge pots & pans for the soup brigade, to supplement all of the soup brigade stuff that also come in as gifts.

GERI ENCAMPMENT FIRE

There was a fire early this afternoon at the encampment at Civic Field, by the corner of Fraser and Puget. Multiple propane bottles exploded. The fire department got the fire out very quickly. Several tents were involved but the people were mostly ok. One was taken to the hospital with what were described as “minor injuries.”

RADIO FREE FL!P: DOGGONE COWBOY

Joe Breskin & Jack Reid. My brother and Jack have been musical partners for many years. Jack passed today from cancer. Joe spent the day with Jack and his family. Joe said it was beautiful. They sang and played music not only to, but with Jack. All the old family favorites. So this is in honor of a lovely relationship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii9nyRmv1Ec

Joe and I have each been losing a lot of people these last few years. It’s a price we pay for loving so many and living so long. The only way out would be to die first. The only thing I’ve been able to figure, besides music, is to keep loving more people. And making sure some of them are younger!

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone and address with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission.

If you want to ask me to post something, just email me. If it’s urgent, phone. If it’s a real emergency, call 911.

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