Tarkington Volunteer Firefighter praised for heroic efforts despite tragic outcome to mobile home fire.
The Tarkington Volunteer Fire department is praising one of their own after he responded to a call on his own in hopes of saving a Grandmother and baby girl believed to be about nine months old.Captain Doc Sikes said he was at home when he got alerted to a mobile home on CR 2198 near Cleveland.โI know the area, I know the members of the department and where they live I was going to be the only one coming to this station anyway just because of work schedules,โ Sikes said. โSo I knew me waiting around for hopefully somebody else to show up would be pretty much out of the ordinary so I pretty much had it pre-determined that once I got to the station, I was just going to put my stuff on and go,โ said Sikes.Sikesโ arrived on scene in a matter of minutes.โAny firemen that I know, that I pride myself in knowing would have made the exact same call,โ Sikes saidTarkington Fire Chief Paul Gregory said Captain Sikes immediately went to work.โHe put a ladder in the window where they confirmed the victims were last and made entry, found the Grandmother, pulled her to the window and thatโs was about the same time the engine from here arrived and was able to assist getting her out to no avail, she was already deceased,โ said Chief Gregory.Captain Sikes and his fellow firefighters went back in the mobile home to search for the baby girl but she too had died.โThis is a very unfortunate circumstance for the fire department, for the family involved,โ Sikes said.Chief Gregory told KPRC 2 He was proud of Sikes decision making.lot of times they say you should wait, but you have victims, especially a baby. These guys aren't waiting,โ said Chief Gregory.Chief Gregory added that counselors and chaplains will be made available to anybody in his department who needed them.
Volunteer Team repairing Korean War Veteranโs home needs your help
What started as an investigation into a $4,000+ water bill draining an elderly Navy veteran has turned into a touching story of Houstonians stepping up to help the hero make his aging house a home again. When members of The Restoration Team saw investigator Amy Davisโ Facebook post about 92-year-old Jessie Laraโs dilemma, they emailed to ask if they could help. They have been working for weeks in the sweltering heat for a man they didnโt even know.
9 vital questions to ask before embarking on a volunteer vacation
Volunteer vacations are popular with gap-year students, retired seniors, and millions of people in between. Perhaps youโre just starting to travel again, for the first time in a long time, considering the pandemic, and youโre thinking about a volunteer vacation.
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Toys for Tots in need of donations with higher requests for presents this holiday season
โFor children, it can be hard to go through a holiday season and receive nothing,โ said Marine Staff Sergeant Eric Quesada, the coordinator for Greater Houston Area Toys for Tots. Toys for Tots was founded by a Marine in 1957. โSo if you see this Toys for Tots box and you have the ability to donate, I would say itโs a great way to give back to our community,โ said Quesada. Virtue Tattoo in Meadows Place has requested a Toys for Tots box for the last for years. If you would like to request a toy, find a place to donate, or request a donation box, visit here.
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Non-profit Crowdsource Rescue to help residents in Louisiana
HOUSTON โ A Houston non-profit organization is preparing to help those in the path of Hurricane Delta. The organization CrowdSource Rescue helps connect rescuers from all over the country to people in need during natural disasters. โTheyโre going out with these huge trucks, boats, chainsaws just looking to help people,โ said Matthew Marchetti, founder of CrowdSource Rescue. To request help or offer help, people can visit crowdsourcerescue.org/hurricanes. โWe do it faster and more efficiently and ultimately it means more people are getting help on the ground.โ
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Facebook to provide paid time off to employees that volunteer as poll workers
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Friday that the company will provide additional paid time off to employees that volunteer as poll workers during the election, according to CNN. This move comes as the social media platform is pushing to recruit poll workers nationally. Facebook also announced plans to limit some political advertising the week of the U.S. election. โWeโre less than two months away from the U.S. elections, and we are seeing a massive shortage of poll workers to staff voting stations,โ Zuckerberg wrote in a post. โIt is estimated that almost half a million poll workers will be needed this year -- especially due to the ongoing COVID pandemic.โ
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HERE 2 HELP: Target Hunger provides food relief for those in need, including Houston-area seniors
Since 1989, Target Hunger serves more than 11,000 people who are food-insecure, according to its website. Operating a system of eight food pantries,12 educational and community gardens, Target Hunger provides a holistic approach to hunger relief. It also provides hunger relief for senior citizens who are unable to leave their home due to mobility issues or COVID-19 concerns. Target Hunger will be holding several drive-thru distributions throughout the month of May. Its next event will be in Kashmere Gardens, at the Kashmere Multi-Service Center, 4802 Lockwood Drive.