Houston Ground Angels
Management Review
October 2017
Tony Castiglie, Vice President & Treasurer
October has arrived and it usually means the best weather Houston has to offer.
Temperatures moderate and humidity seems to be tolerable.
April weather is also nice but the difference is about 100 tons of pollen.
Late August & early September 2017 brought in Hurricane Harvey and it will go down as one of the most disastrous periods in Houston's history. If you did not experience some hellacious experience, you know someone who did. For me, I escaped flooding and my worst experience was being without power for a week. Some of my neighbors were not so lucky. I hope and pray that things went well for you.
Needless to say, Hurricane Harvey did not do our organization any favors. With M.D. Anderson shut down for a period, travel being difficult and many volunteers dealing with their own issues, statistically August and September were very slow months. We ran 175 Missions during August and 181 during September, the lowest numbers since 2010. For the year, the count is 1,787, an average of 7 per day. Eighty-five volunteers have served 831 Patients and/or Companions. As always, those we do serve are always so grateful for the services we provide.
So who is leading the way:
Top 10 Volunteers - 2017
1.
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Charles Whitworth
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219
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2.
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David LaFargue
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104
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3.
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Paulette Blackburn
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86
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4.
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Kathy Broussard
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78
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5.
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Charles Gibson
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77
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6.
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Tony Larosa
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73
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7.
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Mark Newman
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63
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8.
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Missy Callan
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58
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9.
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Sandra Begalke
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54
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10.
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Jerry Cavanaugh
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45
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Jenny Duplantis, who resides in the Lake Houston area, joined us as a new volunteer in September & has already run several missions. Welcome aboard, Jenny. Another pleasant surprise was the return of 3 "veterans", Jim Frels, Diana Graham & Marilyn Zapata. One of the nice aspects of being a Houston Ground Angel Volunteer is that one sets his/her own schedule & you choose when & how often you run a mission. Welcome back.
To every volunteer, "Thank You" for being part of this wonderful organization and making it the success that it is. Hurricane Harvey affected the lives of many Houstonians but nothing will ever dampen the spirit of those who live here. The Houston Ground Angels fits right in.
Sincerely,
Tony
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