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Blog Entry For
Kevis
Hooters and Houston Baptist Church Join Together In Oak Island Christmas
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - 5:12 am -
Kevis
www.oakislandtexascommunity.com
Unique partnership for Oak Island Christmas
By Dave Rogers - Baytown Sun
Published December 23, 2008
OAK ISLAND – In an odd-sounding collaboration, Texas Hooters Restaurants and Houston’s Rice Temple Baptist Church joined together to throw a big Christmas party to cheer up a Texas community still reeling from the after-effects of Hurricane Ike.
More than 400 residents and volunteers attended Sunday’s event that included plenty of hamburgers and chicken wings, an appearance by Santa Claus and more than $20,000 in Christmas gifts for the children and families, most all of whom lost their homes to the Category 2 storm that hit the upper Texas Gulf Coast in September.
“This is excellent,” said Ariel Bair, an Oak Island mother, as she carried out gifts for her 2-year-old daughter Sophia and 9-month-old son Alix.
“We all got everything wiped out that belonged to us, but this will make it better for the kids. At least they’ll have something for Christmas and not be so worried about if they’re getting anything.”
Michelle Barrett pulled her 20-month-old son Jacob in a Little Red Wagon stuffed with toys.
“We may not be able to top this next Christmas,” she said. “The kids will want Hooters every year.”
Both Rice Temple Baptist Church and Hooters, the national chain of sports bars known for its wings and skimpily clad waitresses, brought about 30 volunteers.
“All the boys from our youth group signed up pretty fast when they found out the Hooters girls were going to be here,” said Clint Reiff, the church’s pastor.
With temperatures dipping into the 40s and the wind howling at more than 20 mph, the waitresses eschewed their trademark tight-fitting shorts and tank tops and, like the Hooters managers and cooks, opted to stay warm in sweatshirts, jackets and track suits bearing the restaurant’s logo and orange and white color scheme.
Which was a good thing when some of the early-arriving waitresses decided to sit in on the church service that preceded the party held at Oak Island Baptist Church.
Reiff’s volunteers, after off-loading the gifts they brought, set up and entertained the children in an arts and craft area.
After eating the meal prepared by Hooters’ catering unit, the gift-giving began.
Teenagers were presented gift cards, Houston non-profit Elves and More delivered 75 children’s bicycles and there was even a new sound system for the church to replace one lost when Trinity Bay flooded the brick structure along with most of the town’s other 250 homes.
Sunday’s party came together almost overnight.
Heather Suggitt, regional marketing manager for Hooters and the organizer of the event, said she only heard of Oak Island and its hurricane story a few weeks ago. Then she came to look around.
“To me, what was so shocking was ‘How can I live one hour from this place and not know about this?’ Suggitt said. “It’s like a bomb went off. It’s crazy.”
Suggitt wasted no time in getting Hooters and a network of partners involved. Those partners include Reiff’s church.
“We’ve been doing a ministry with Hooters for 10 years,” he said. “They’ve helped us feed at events and we’ve worked together on some fund-raising. I also do an informal Bible study in their restaurant for the people who work there.”
Although three months have passed since the storm destroyed more than 90 percent of the homes in the Chambers County fishing community that had about 500 residents. But only about half of the many tons of debris left by Hurricane Ike has been cleared. No rebuilding has begun.
Clothes and keepsakes hang from trees in vacant lots, right where the hurricane left them Sept. 13. Turn almost any corner and you’ll see one or more boats high and dry in someone’s yard after the waters receded.
The best news, according to FEMA division coordinator Dennis Mangioni, who attended Sunday’s party, is finally everyone in Oak Island eligible for a FEMA trailer has one.
The first rebuilding is set to begin next week and the support Suggitt and Reiff brought will go a long way toward helping people get back on their feet.
Hooters restaurants from as far away as Dallas and San Antonio held bake sales and toy drives to raise money for Oak Island.
Goodson Honda and Gallery Furniture were among many Houston businesses that donated goods and cash.
In addition to the party gifts, Hooters’ corporate ad agency designed and is donating a new Oak Island sign. It also set up a Web site for the town,
www.oakislandtexascommunity.com
, to let Oak Island more easily communicate with the outside world and allow people around the world a chance to donate to the recovery via a Pay-Pal account.
“The reason we did this is not for publicity,” Suggitt said. “After driving around Oak Island, I felt I didn’t have a choice but to do it.
“Then I could not believe everyone’s generosity. It just really came from God.”
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1 Comment
Yep! They Were There!
Saturday, December 27, 2008 - 3:28 pm -
hawthornes
Yep, the Hooters ladies, did, inceed, attend last Sunday's church service! We are back in our building now, tho it is gutted of walls, we are thrilled to be worshipping in our little brick church again!
Pastor Eddie said the ladies would be appropriately dressed and they were, with only Hooter jackets and Santa hats giving them away!
The very large truck and trailer outside the church proclaimed their identity with HOOTERS in large letters, which we thought was hilarious!
The group was VERY generous and they and the other donors blew us all away with their HUGE amount of gifts for the kids!
Our little Oak Island Church will never be the same after all thse celebs have given out of their hearts - we are all in awe of how God is taking such a catastrophe and turning it into a blessing!
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