UPDATE #5: Houston’s Mayor Rocks! The Astrodome has been filled to capacity. He’s opened the Reliant Center saying:
“We want this exhibition hall open right now,” the mayor said. “If it entails someone suing us, then OK.,” the mayor said. “Then (they can) explain to the American public why.”
Also: Anyone who thinks they may have a friend or loved one sheltered at the Astrodome should address letters by name, with the address General Delivery, Houston, TX 77230.
UPDATE #4: Thank you all for your overwhelming response to the call for items for the upcoming auction to benefit Larissa! As of Thursday night, we’ve closed the donations. You can view the lists of authors /editors /agents /web designers /readers who are donating critiques, books, and other items here. A more detailed list will follow once the auction goes live. Anticipated date is Friday, September 9th. We will continue to accept donations through PayPal by emailing paypaldonations AT alisonkent.com and/or cash/gift cards via the Access Romance Mailbox (Access Romance /Larissa Ione /1795 N. Fry Rd. #263 /Katy, TX 77449-3347) at this time. Again, Larissa and her family are grateful for the generous response, and send their thanks. And we’re equally grateful on their behalf for your timely and enthusiastic response and support.
UPDATE #3 : Harlequin send out a nice email today expressing concern for all it’s affected authors and to let us know they donated to the American Red Cross.
UPDATE #2: A note from Larissa!
UPDATE: Check out ROMAID for a partial list of items to be auctioned! And check out the comments on the last post at Larissa’s blog for heartfelt thank-yous from her mom and mom-in-law. Brought tears to my eyes this morning!
As many of you know, our critique partner / good friend / fellow-blogger, Larissa Ione lives in the area of Gulfport, MS. She is a former Air Force meteorologist, and she knows storms. She left with the kid, the laptop, the cat, the mice, and clothes for two days when Katrina was still a category two storm. Katrina grew, and now Larissa has no home to return to. Her hurricane insurance will not cover all of the loss because the largest part of the destruction was caused by the storm surge. Her son will be moving to Washington state to live with his grandparents so he can start grade school again. She will be handling all the repair / recovery on her own because her husband is required elsewhere. He is Coast Guard, and was stationed in Gulfport. He is now assigned to hurricane search and rescue.
Larissa’s critique partners, me, Emma and Steph, and the blogging group at WriteMinded (Sharon Long, Amy Knupp, and Jan Kenny) are organizing an auction to help out her family in their loss. We anticipate launching the auction on Friday, September 9th and we’re asking for your help.
For authors interested in donating critiques (5 page synopsis – 30 pages manuscript) and / or autographed books, please email either Sharon Long (smlong AT gt.rr.com) or Amy Knupp (aknupp AT sunflower.com) – they’re working together, so don’t worry about duplicates – to have your name listed in this fundraising auction.
If you’re interested in donating anything else for auction, please email stephanie AT stephanietyler.com. For general questions, please email: stephanie AT stephanietyler.com
Other ways to help:
If you would like to help Larissa directly, we’ve already started a way to do so. We’re thinking that what she needs right now is immediate help in the way of necessities until any emergency money or insurance kicks in. Visa/Amex cash cards would be the best, along with gas or WalMart/Target cards. Those would cover groceries and clothes and school supplies and pet food. Thinking ahead, Home Depot cards would also work as well.
Since she’s going to have spotty internet service, if any at all, physical gift cards, rather than emailed ones would work best. Or, if you would like to PayPal money for Larissa, you can send to this email: paypaldonations AT alisonkent.com and all funds will be used to purchase cash cards for her.
Anything you can do to help would be appreciated. You can use the address below, and we’ll forward anything that comes in to her as a next-day / priority kind of thing, so we make sure nothing gets lost in transit as she moves around and regroups.
Access Romance
Larissa Ione
1795 N. Fry Rd. #263
Katy, TX 77449-3347
It would be wonderful if you could spread the word about this by linking to this post if you have a blog.
Thanks in advance for all your generosity. Larissa is a true friend who has always gone out of her way to help people. We’d love to be able to help alleviate some of her worry right now.
For those who have already donated, we can’t thank you enough!!
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My prayers go out to Larissa and everyone from that area. I will await the auction and will put the blog linkages. I will also post this entry on my various groups and loops. I will be thinking about Larissa and her family.
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If she has a PayPal account, people can also send her money directly. On Forward Motion, we frequently set up fundraisers via PayPal, with the money going directly into the recipient’s bank account. It worked well.
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She doesn’t yet, but is trying to get on via dial-up where she’s staying to do it! We’ll definitely post a change in address!!
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I’ll donate an autographed book. When the auction is ready to launch, I’ll put the link on my blog, too! I can’t imagine what it must be like to lose everything.
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Oh no! I’m so glad I checked out blogs today. Alison, please tell Larissa she’s in my prayers and my heart goes out to her and all she’s lost. She’s one tough lady, so I know she’ll recover. I’ve emailed Stephanie to see how I can help.
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I am a New Orleans resident in exile at the moment. I know that any help you can provide for her is so helpful. I may not know for weeks what is left, but we will recover!
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My heart goes out to Larissa as I know how horrible it is to lose everything you own. I’m glad she and her family are okay. I will be donating a critique to the auction and signed book and will definitely send her something monetary as well.
Everyone was so good to me when I was in need – now it’s time to rally around Larissa!
Marianne
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Marianne did you receive my books?
KIM
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I vote that Romaid.com should stay for good. For everyone. Based on the unfortunate situations that have struck romances authors over the past year, it shows that aid is MORE than needed for authors whose salaries are unable to cover disasters and sudden health issues. Unless you’re a Tom Clancy or a Nora Roberts, chances are, authors need SOMETHING to assist this career. Maybe it could turn into some non-profit thing…? I’m rambling, I know, but I feel strongly about this in light of Larissa’s situation, Marianne Mancusi’s previous situation and going back to Trish Jensen’s emergency. Something needs to be done about this lack of financial security.
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Larissa’s note choked me up. Please let her know she’s in my thoughts.
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Alison, is it all right to send correspondence (letters, cards, etc.) for Larissa to the Access Romance address? Or should we hold off?
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Yes, that’s fine. Once we have another addy, we’ll post it. But she’s at a private residence at the moment, so that’s best kept private.