The city of Austin and its residents have long been known for being both eco-conscious and giving toward the community and others. These qualities are witnessed on by Steiner Ranch residents on a regular basis as they interact with one another and participate at the community Welcome Center, but the good-heartedness of Austin’s residents expands well beyond the boundaries of individual communities or even the boundaries of the state itself.
Even before the devastating earthquake struck the country of Haiti, numerous Austin residents had taken time to visit the country in order to conduct missionary work or to simply provide the people with much needed medical care and other assistance. After the earthquake struck, however, some of Austin’s residents found themselves worrying about more than just the people who call Haiti home. In fact, family and friends waiting anxiously to here from three Austin residents who had been missing for three days since the earthquake struck.
One of these people, Lynn Selby, was a University of Texas student who was conducting doctoral research and volunteer work at Port-au-Prince. Amazingly, Selby suffered only minor injuries and managed to find her way to the U.S. Embassy in Haiti on Thursday. Reportedly, Selby has told embassy workers that she wants to assist with search and rescue efforts until she can be evacuated.
“We don’t know how she got from her house to the embassy and what transpired during those 48 hours,” said Selby’s sister, Leigh Selby. “But we feel really, really lucky to know she’s fine.”
John and Suzi Parker, two missionaries from Austin who have been conducting missionary work in Haiti since 2003, were also ultimately found at a nursing school located about 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince in the town of Leogane. Ironically, John Parker had served as the construction manager of the nursing school when it was erected in 2003. When the earthquake struck, the couple had been working at a guesthouse that had been set up for visiting doctors and they now plan to remain in Haiti in order to assist with the rescue effort.
“We’re sure relieve that they seem to be OK, but of course there is a lot of concern for the people of Haiti,” said Rev. San Williams, who is the couples’ pastor at University Presbyterian Church.
Numerous companies throughout the city of Austin are also donating funds to the cause, including H-E-B, which recently announced its intentions to donate $100,000 to the American Red Cross for the Haiti Relief and Development Fund.