Many of you know that I grew up in St. Louis Missouri. Earlier this year I was in St. Louis visiting family for Easter and a tornado tore through part of the city. It destroyed a couple of neighborhoods and a good portion of the airport. I was driving home with my sister and her family when we heard the tornado sirens go off. We had no idea if we were supposed to pull over and find shelter or if we should try to make it the rest of the way home and head to their basement. There was a lot of property damage in the area and they had to shut down the airport for a couple of days. Luckily, no one was killed.
When a tornado hit Joplin, Missouri a few weeks later it was much, much, worse. The town was leveled and many people lost their lives. It was horrible. I've joined with a group that is helping to raise money for the victims in Joplin, MO. They've set up an online auction with tons of great stuff. I donated a set visit to The Office. We normally have a closed set - which means no visitors - and we don't film in front of an audience. We open our doors and invite people to visit when it is for a good cause like this.
As part of the set visit you get to watch a live rehearsal, sit in the green room while we tape several scenes, you eat lunch on set (it's huge buffet with tons of different food stations like you might see in Vegas), you get a private tour of the set, the warehouse, our editing facility, you get to see Dwight's car and take photos. The cast always stops by for photos and to say thank you for coming out. So please head over to the site and bid. All of the money we raise goes to the folks in Joplin.
There are a ton of great things up for auction - a Meet and Greet with Coldplay, Tickets to a Tim McGraw concert, tons of autographed sports stuff - it might be a nice way to do some early Christmas shopping! If you are anything like my Mom she has everything bought for Christmas by July 4th.
Thanks for checking it out!
Jenna
Hey Jenna! I didn't have a chance to read this one until now, but I wanted to go ahead & say thank you for posting it! I live in Springfield, MO, and have colleagues and friends in Joplin, some of them who lost everything in the storm. It's so refreshing to see people like you, who some of us think are just amazing, be so caring, concerned & down to earth. I really appreciate you taking the time to blog for your fans. I met Jamie Kaler this weekend at the Show Me Music & Arts Festival in Springfield, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out how nice & polite he is. You strike me as being someone who is the same. Thanks for your updates, and for thinking about those in your home state!
I lived in Tulsa, OK for a couple of years, which is not far from Joplin, and knew a couple of people that were from there. One friend of a friend lost his home, but he and his family are okay. It certainly was very devastating. I'm glad that you got through the St Louis one unscathed! This is a wonderful idea to help out the people of Joplin. I'll post the link on my Facebook page and maybe there will be some folks who can bid!
Thank you so much for taking the time to post. When someone has a burgeoning career like yours and a kiddo on the way, life seems to suddenly go into overdrive, and sometimes getting only the minimum amount of stuff accomplished is a MAJOR task! (Been there, done that!) I hope that your health will hold and that you'll be able to keep a good balance as things shift and change for you.
My family here in Paris is *finally* watching Season 7 of "The Office" and I can't tell you how fun it is to have 14 & 16 year olds (who are fairly good at English/near bi-lingual, but native speakers of French), a 43-year-old (me) and a 47-year-old (almost husband) all engaging in gut-splitting laughter! It is such a great show, and we have been thoroughly enjoying ourselves. I missed "Hall Pass" in theaters here (which was called "B.A.T (bon à tirer)" meaning: "Go-Ahead") but so glad to know it is on DVD now! I'll watch it very soon.
Let us know how the fundraiser goes if you get a chance. :)
Paris Karin
(an alien parisienne)
I just saw your reply and info. Thanks, I know every dollar helps in situations like that so I was happy to give what I could.
I'm so glad you're promoting this. I was in St. Louis during the tornado as well. I was with someone at SLU Hospital and they tried to get most patients and visitors on our floor into the hallways, if they were able. Absolutely terrifying. Hearing the news about Joplin is such a realization that it could've been us. Apparently the tornado there actually tore THROUGH their hospital. Those poor families.
that is so amazing jenna im glad you and your family are safe. i have two friends from joplin they moved down to texas with my sister and i they lost so many friends and memories.
I'll bookmark the e-bay page, but I'm afraid the last minute bidding frenzy will overwhelm my bank account. I hope it raises a lot of dough for a worthy cause. Best of luck.
Great cause Jenna! But honestly, a little disappointed. Thought this blog would be to officially announce your wonderful news or to talk about Steve Carell leaving, some teaser about The Office... Truly miss your blogs and how fan friendly and accessible you used to be.
Unfortunately we don't have the finances to bid on the Office visit. I will see if there is somewhere to send just a straight donation to that charity. Glad to know you and your family are o.k. I did think of them during the storms. My heart breaks for those families.:(
You are very sweet! A friend of my father's set up a charity through is church in Joplin to collect donations if you are interested. He lives there and has been very involved in the rescue and clean up efforts. 100% of the donations will go to families in need. http://www.fpbc.net
I wish I could too, but this is kitten season and I will be full up with foster babies probably thru the end of the year. With bottle baby kittens, I can't leave the house for more than an hour at a time and even then, it's just not worth it. Too tired. Plus we'd have to board all our own animals which is too expensive and I'd never do that to them. They're my babies too. :-)
Have 4 kittens--Mom was thrown from a car, had her kittens and then died! So I got them at 2 hours old! Have another kitten, alone. The people's pigs ATE the rest of the litter!
Good luck with all those kitties!!!! Bless you for taking them in. Bottle babies are a huge responsibility!
I wish I had the money to bid and win that auction for the set visit. Especially to meet you! One day... One day... =..
It was very nice of you to help out in this way. More power to ya!