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CJ’s Bus
was born out of three unique ingredients: the personal experience of
Jeff Parness following the 2003 San Diego wildfires; Kathryn Martin’s
experience providing emergency child care assistance to a family
following the May 2006 Otwell, Indiana tornado; and a conversation Jeff
and Kathryn had in June 2006 in which Kathryn stated her desire to honor
her son C.J.’s legacy by continuing to reach out and help other families
by caring for their children in the immediate aftermath of disasters.
What came out of this experience was the realization of the need for a
mobile recreation unit to drop directly into disaster sites in the
immediate aftermath of disasters in order to keep kids distracted in a
safe group environment.
Kathryn lost her 2-year-old son C.J., as well as her
mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law in the deadly F3 tornado which
ravaged Evansville and Newburgh, Indiana at 1:58AM on November 6, 2005. The tornado
took 25 lives and was one of the deadliest in Indiana history.
As a testament to her character, Kathryn returned to school and received her degree in human services with a special focus on child advocacy; she led the effort to build the Memorial Park for the surviving children and families of
Eastbrook Mobile Home Community to enjoy; she's pushing “CJ’s Law” through the Indiana Legislature, with the help of Representative Phil Hoy, that will
mandate mobile home manufacturers to pre-install NOAA weather radios in
order to provide mobile home residents with potential life-saving
warnings in the event of future storms; and she reached out in May 2006
to the families in the neighboring community of Otwell, Indiana who were
also hit by an F3 tornado – with a very simple and kind gesture:
Kathryn loaded up her car with coloring books, crayons and juice
boxes, and along with a friend, went about searching for children
playing in the debris and offered their parents to keep their kids
distracted for a few hours by sitting down with them and coloring.
This simple gesture provided immeasurable relief to the families she and
her friend Brandi Crawley-Gish assisted, as these parents were given a
few hours to attend to their immediate recovery needs. And it also
provided these children with the opportunity to maintain their innocence
as children in the face of disaster.
(The Evansville Courier & Press
wrote a beautiful story about Kathryn and Brandi’s efforts to help the
families in Otwell, Indiana which you can
read here).
When Jeff met Kathryn in Evansville in June 2006, he asked her what she
wanted to do with her life going forward. Kathryn’s response was
immediate: “I wish I could drive to disaster sites with crayons and
coloring books and help parents by keeping their kids distracted.”
At that moment the “light bulb went off” and the idea for CJ’s Bus was
born.
A letter from Kathryn
Martin |
On November 6th, 2005 our family was
forever altered by Mother Nature. My two-year old son, C.J., was
having a slumber party at his great-grandmother's house. His
grandmother stayed for the sleepover and joined in the festivities.
In the middle of the night, an F3 tornado instantly destroyed three
generations of love. The smell of gas, the screams from those
who used to be my neighbors, the darkness, and the sirens, were all
the sights and sounds of that night. The fear of not finding my
baby and having to tell other injured individuals that I could not
stay with them because I had to find my son, will forever haunt me.
Having lived through this type of disaster gives you first hand
experience in the amount of support a community needs and the gaps
where no support can be found. As volunteer organizations focus on
housing, clothing and feeding the survivors, families with children
are placed into an impossible balance of caring for their children and
ensuring their safety while dealing with the aftermath. Safe and
accessible childcare is overlooked as a necessity.
CJ's Bus is a proposal to provide a safe, mobile childcare facility
loaded with games and toys for children in disaster. CJ's Bus will
enable parents to take the time to deal with paperwork as well as the
opportunity to "just breathe". CJ's Bus will allow children to play
and have fun with other children who have suffered the same
devastating events as one another. I envision CJ's Bus as a way to
begin the battle of healing for families that are put in unpreventable
circumstances.
Thank you for helping us to make CJ's Bus a reality.
Sincerely,
Kathryn M. Martin
November 5, 2006
Evansville, Indiana |
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