Brian Gamble and his family of the Barrhaven section of Ottawa lost his house on December 18 due to a fire. You can read about it on CTV or the Citizen.
Fire in Ottawa. How support gets routed.
I wonder how much support the family received directly due publication in traditional media.
It so happens that I am a member of group that Brian is also a member of. The Ottawa Creative Thinkers Group. So I happen to have the inside Scoop.
The news was also transfered online to his friends and other group members through a listserv. Here is the conversation that transpired:
December 20
Members, friends,
I was shocked to read in the Sunday, Dec 19 edition of the Ottawa Citizen that our dear friend, Brian Gamble, had lost his home and many family possessions to fire.
Brian, on behalf of the members of the OCTG, I wish to extend my most sincere condolences to you and your family on your loss. If I or the group may be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
I have taken the liberty of including your email address in this email as many members may wish to contact you directly.
As we approach Christmas, I hope that you and your family will have happy moments in spite of your tragedy.
Our warmest sentiments are with you
Ken
T613-596-4886, Http://www.gcTraining.ca
“Do not ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Harold Whitman
December 26
Members, friends,
MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thanks to Brian for his reply below.
Brian, it warms the heart to see generosity bestowed and our best wishes as you manage through these challenging times.
Thanks for the follow-up and all the best in 2011 to you and your family!
And good wishes to OCTG members for a wonderful future
KenFrom: Brian Gamble
Sent: Saturday, December 25, 2010 11:03 AM
To: ken @ gcTraining.ca
Subject: Re: OCTG – Ottawa Creative thinking Group – Shocking Unfortunate NewsDear Ken
I greatly appreciate your concern for us and your kind gesture to help us. We still don’t know the extent of the damage and whether the house can be repaired or will need to be completely rebuilt. Either way we will not be back in our home for close to a year. On the fortunate side we have received overwhelming generosity, kindness and emotional support from our neighbours and friends. Our neighbour across the street from where we live is in Florida until the end of March and when he heard about our plight, he phoned his daughter in Ottawa and told her to tell us to move in for the period he is away. Even the Ross Independent grocers where my youngest son works part time in the Deli, gave us free food for a week and hundreds of dollars of coupons. All our electronic equipment was destroyed. However I was able to save the hard drives on the computers and have them downloaded on to new computers. I am also able to get back on line with the help of Rogers Rocket sticks which is a mobile internet device that plugs into a USB port and enables access the internet virtually everywhere in Canada. This finally is what has enabled me to respond to your kind message of concern.What is most important is that we all got out safely. The rest is manageable one way or another. Thank you also for spreading the news among the members of the group.
Many Thanks
Brian
Interestingly when this information passed through the listserv of the Ottawa Creative Thinkers Group, I suspect it reached people that were more relevant than the papers. Further, I also noticed that some of the more serious support (a house for instance) came from the locale. This shows the importance of propinquity.
There is another pattern here. The initial news may have traveled outward from social media but the news was routed socially to more relevant people.
It’s nice to see support being routed around during the Christmas Season!
I’m still hoping everything is okay. I did receive this note from him:
Date: Sat, Dec 25, 2010 at 10:59 AM
Thank you for your kind thought and sympathy. But we are all OK and we are going to make it.Brian
[...] are poor people right in your own community who suffer economic hardship? Here’s a finer example of what do with extra resources at [...]