Public Notice

The news is a fickle lover. It pounces on a story, cause, issue... proceeds to caress every possible angle, then forgets it as soon as the sun comes up. Harrumph. The May 27, 1997 Central Texas Tornado story may seem like old news to some folks, but to others, to the victims, the sting is not just from memory but from the residual everyday reality of lives and property destroyed by this natural terror.

It's been no secret that this column has found a soft spot for the folks out in Pedernales Valley, who did not receive as intense an initial blast of press coverage as other areas did. One of our interns happened to be performing volunteer work out in the Valley and turned in a great feature story spotlighting the problems faced by the folks in the "other" tornado wake. By that time, Pedernales had been hit by floodwaters as well. It took a month or so, but other media outlets finally followed suit and made the plight of these folks a viable news item.

Well, the problems haven't gone away. Pedernales Valley Disaster Recovery, Inc., the organization set up to officiate disaster relief, is sending out more pleas and coordinating more benefits. According to PVDR, despite filed insurance claims and distributed relief, approximately $1 million is still needed to assist in rebuilding homes and replacing lost personal property. They are staging three upcoming events to lighten the load. First they are having a Garage Sale, Sat, Oct 4, 7am-5pm at Pace Bend & RR2322. Second, they are hosting what they hope will be an Annual Bar-B-Q Cook-Off, Fri-Sat, Oct 10-11, 10am-4pm at the Hilltop Bar & Grill, Hwy71 W. Third, they are calling for Volunteers for an October Harvest... of Debris, Sat-Sun, Oct 25-26, 7am-5pm. Bring drinking water, gloves, chainsaws, and please RSVP. 264-0825.

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No Sorority Jokes,
We Swear

The ladies of Delta Sigma Theta are helping raise money to fund an Austin Habitat for Humanity project. Groundbreaking for a house on East 18th is just the beginning. The sorority's share is to raise $13,333. They are planning a Silent Auction for Tue, Sep 30 at Midtown Live and are sending out calls to area businesses and individuals to contribute items or services. They are also encouraging volunteers to come out on Saturdays, 8:30am-4:30pm to help build the house, as well. Then you can ask for yourself how many sorority girls it takes to screw in a lightbulb or hammer a nail.... Sorry, we just couldn't help ourselves. 389-3240 or 990-7911.

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Reach Ouuuuuuuut

A slew of local care organizations, including Austin Outreach, Austin/Travis County Health & Human Services, Austin African-American Network, AIDS Services of Austin, Informe-SIDA and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (hey, maybe they could help the Thetas with those lightbulbs!) present a half-day workshop, The Multiple Faces of HIV, Wed, Oct 1, 11am-4pm at the Conley-Guerrero Senior Citizen Center, 808 Nile. The workshop will focus on the increase of HIV among African-American women, and will include break-out sessions to discuss prevention and gather input from the community. Clinton administration AIDS Advisory honcho Denise Stokes will be the guest speaker.