the city of joplin, missouri, needs your help

Living mi vida insular in Costa Rica, I'm not always up on American current events. So when I received the email below from Preston Lacy with the attached image, well, it was abso-f'ing-lutely shocking as I had no clue a monster tornado had touched down and tore through his hometown of Joplin, Missouri, on the evening of Sunday, May 22nd. No doubt, Mother Nature really can be an uncompromisingly heavy-handed bitch at times; fortunately these are also the times when humans live up to the full potential of their humanity by pulling out all the stops to aid their fellow man regardless of race, color or creed. So please read below and see what you can do to help today: 

This is a photo I took four blocks from my house in Joplin.

This is devastation on an unimaginable scale. It looks like a nuclear bomb went off in the middle of town. The footprint is six miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide.

I'm frazzled, depressed and running on fumes. I need ya—hell, there's 50,000 people in Joplin that need you. It's bad here. Really bad. There are hundreds dead and still hundreds missing. My house and family are okay, but I've lost some good friends.

If you could text JOPLIN to 80888, 10 dollars* will go to help the thousands of people now struggling to survive.

Sincerely,

Preston Lacy

* The 10-dollar charge will show up on your cell phone bill.

(Photo by Preston Lacy; Joplin, Missouri 2011)

Comments

[joshua defisher]

yo preston,, you give us a place to stay and i have 5 people that would love to help the clean-up

http://www.facebook.com/jdefisher

much love and the best of recovery for you and your neighbors

[Mumooshka]

Sorry to hear Preston... hope you feel better soon.

[Ty]

I've been up there everyday helping :)

As a local of Anderson it's hard to see my bros up in Joplin hurting like this.

[Cristal Hedrick]

Preston ur amazing. Ur still that small town boy who hasn't forgotten where he came from. Very inspiring to me! Team Hedrick loves ya!

[Michellemaggot]

so sorry about that, preston. stay safe!!!

[Molly]

oh my god, im so sorry. texting right away!

[aaditya bajaj]

hey preston!
sorry to hear about the devastation in your hometown!
can i send the same type of sms from india?

aaditya
(india)

[Segaricar]

Keeping real ! thats the right thing to do ! I hope everything getting better soon !

(By the way, WHO is in COSTA RICA ? Who publish this on facebook ? Im just wonder cause im from there ... :D

Peace and love !

[Beth]

Will the text work for those in Australia?

[Brieana]

It works n I got a confirmation from salvation army. If I get billed more than ten bucks, preston I am kicking your butt! :)

[Rasmus]

I feel sorry for ya, wish i lived near joplin, missouri, but im from Denmark. I would like to help you, but instead im supporting you, greetings from Denmark.

[Laura Z]

Done. Love going out to Preston and everyone else that's hurting.

[ALEJANDRO]

I LOVE jackass

[Jake]

Is there anything in the UK we can do to help? That number doesn't work over here.

[Nyte]

I sent my text donation a couple days after it happened...so today I'll canvas my neighborhood. (There are more than a few older people who don't know how to text. I'll be happy to show them how for a donation. :) )

Also, if you don't have money to give, you can donate your time from anywhere in the world. Volunteering in your community can do wonders, you know!

[John Foss III]

Hey. Preston. I live in Joplin. And this is absolutely devastating. My girl friend and I were in Wal Mart on 15 and Rangeline when it came down. We are both ok. But can't believe it still yet. Glad to hear you r family is ok. And sorry for your loss.

[Amber]

I was unaware that Preston lives so close to the hospital. I dont live in Joplin but I do live about 30 miles from there. Im happy all his family is okay.

[Mortadelao Hp]

Eu sou do Brasil, e fique muito triste quando soube oque aconteceu em Joplin, melhoras Preston.

[DrinkMilk]

Oh my gosh! That's devastating! I'm so sorry Preston that you lost some good friends. I am so glad all your family is okay!

[JoyJoy]

it's very sad...how one's life can be uprooted or taken is a minute...

[Felicia]

Hey, does the text work for Australia as well?

[Sucia (Suzy) Nardini-Chirchiglia]

Hey Preston,
I grew up in Joplin too, we went to grade school together. The house I grew up in was distroyed. I'm glad your family is alright. My sister Lisa still keeps in touch with your sister. Lisa went back there this week to check things out. We live in Florida now, but are still saddened by this tragedy . My father worked at St. Johns Hospital back in the 70's. You take care and keep making us laugh, that's the best gift my friend.
Suzy Nardini

[Send sms to Thailand]

I want to help in your advocacy. If only it is applicable to where I am right now in Thailand, I would send a hundred text message just to help my countrymen back home.

[Erick]

, Clay embezzled $443,143 that was dontaed to the Boys and Girls Club and used it for his own benefit. According to the information, Clay opened a money market account at the First State Bank of Joplin on Nov. 14, 1997, in order to receive a $20,000 federal grant. This federal grant was to be used to establish or sponsor a Boys and Girls Club in Miami, Okla. After the grant money had been disbursed, the account should have been closed. Unbeknownst to the Joplin Boys and Girls Club's board of directors, however, Clay kept the account open. Clay deposited $597,749 in contributions, grants, and donations from various sources into the First State Bank account between August 1998 and March 2004. Those funds should have been deposited into the Boys and Girls Club's general operating account at US Bank in Joplin. With the exception of the initial $20,000 federal grant, Schlozman said, all of those deposits and withdrawals were unknown to the board of directors. Clay withdrew $597,698 from the First State Bank account during that time frame, most of which was used for his own benefit. Clay is charged with two counts related to specific activities that were part of the larger scheme to defraud the Boys and Girls Club. Count One of the information charges Clay with wire fraud. On Aug. 21, 2003, Clay caused a $50,500 grant from the Famsea Corporation of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, which was in the form of a wire transfer, to be deposited into the First State Bank account. The $50,500 grant grant was intended for use by the Joplin Boys and Girls Club to fund a program known as Project Learn and Career Development for Teens. Between Aug. 22 and Sept. 8, 2003, Clay transferred $11,600 representing the proceeds of the $50,500 wire transfer from Famsea Corporation that had been deposited into First State Bank &! #8211; from First State Bank account to his own personal bank account at Mercantile Bank in Joplin. Count Two of the information charges Clay with money laundering for engaging in a monetary transaction in which criminally derived property $11,600 derived from the wire fraud charged in Count One was transferred from First State Bank in Joplin to Mercantile Bank. Under federal statutes, Clay could be subject to a sentence of up to 40 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $500,000 and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Michael Green. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.****************This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line atwww.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

[Oneida]

bummer! I hope for you guys they are going to change the wwinods. They look like they could need it.Maybee you should by the 50m X 70m advert and put your own logo on it. Atleast you get something out of the dark period then. Good luck!

[Caroline]

Thanks Simon god knows what intensedebate does with pings I think I'm going to get rid of it soon. Here's my ceommnt on Simon's blog post that he links to in his ceommnt (is that right?): Thanks for the link Simon and I am pleased that my rather throwaway inspired some creative thinking! I think that things like live streaming of meetings is actually barking up the wrong tree as they don t help solve the actual problem, which is that the form and process of council business is tricky to understand, and that if I can t make a meeting, it s also going to be unlikely that I can make the live stream being able to view it afterwards is also no help as by then the decisions have been made. You are right to point out that consultative meetings are most appropriate for this, and one suggestion that I have received from a UK local authority is to apply this approach to the planning process, which obvious happens over a longer period of time. This will give people a chance to submit content to the process through social media, whether blogging, highlighting related web pages through bookmarking, sharing photos (which I think would be *very* cool for planning stuff) and video etc. I am writing a quick proposal for how this might work for the authority that got in touch, and I am sure they wouldn t mind me sharing it with you!

[Vinu]

One of the big bits of the puzzle still msinisg is the 'paper interface' for social media listening tools etc. The reality of most meetings is people still want a bit of paper to shuffle with a 'report of what people are saying' and they jot down their notes on bits of paper in the meeting When I've run events trying to link social media and in-person meetings I've usually turned around a printed snap-shot of social media conversations, then tried to feed the conversation in the meeting back to the social media space. But that does involve a lot of work and a lot of interpretive power in the hands of the 'social reporter'. Perhaps if we built our social media systems/strategies with an easier 'Print Summary' button (which invites and entices councilors to follow up the in-depth content on the web ) we could improve the Social Media->Council interface, at least in this time of transition to a more social world of policy making

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