Day One: Live Updates From Help 4 The Holidays

It's officially here, one of the biggest things we've ever embarked upon. A task that will help so many in Amarillo this holiday season.

Help 4 The Holidays kicked off today...and let's just say so far, it's been quite the adventure as we get things underway.

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We got things going around 6 am. It was sitting around a balmy 34 degrees as we set up our tent, put out the tables, and connected all the gear to broadcast live.

Things seemed to start relatively smoothly. Everything seemed to connect properly, and broadcasting began without a hitch. Yup, it's going to be a good day.

Fast forward to around 8 am. The wind is really starting to whip around out here. The sidewalls we have up on the tent (that Reeder Outdoor Living & Pools provided us) are gonna have to come down. The wind is so strong it's pushing them inward and sliding the tent across the ground.

Yes, we've got tent weights on the legs. Several of them on each leg to be exact. It's not helping. Not a good sign.

The wind settles down and we can really start to get focused. Such a big list awaits our attention, and we have a LONG way to go.

Everything is starting to come together now. It's starting to warm up a bit outside, people are stopping by to say hello and ask what we're doing. I'm feeling good right now Amarillo.

It's now 11:30 am and the wheels have come off. The wind kicked in so hard it lifted the tent and gave it a nice throw...yes, even with the weights still on it.

Now before I continue, I want to thank those incredible people that stopped where they were headed to help us hold the tent and get it down so it didn't take off on us completely. If it wasn't for them, I might be chasing a tent down I-40.

We managed to get the tent top off, but as we were getting set to put down the frame until the wind died down, we ran into a snag. One of the middle legs has been bent. Now, we can't even get it all the way down and out of the way. It's starting to get real...and oh yeah, we're still waiting on that first donation.

Currently 1:35 pm and I'm THRILLED to report we've gotten our first official donation to Help 4 The Holidays! Shampoo and conditioner, mac & cheese, toothbrushes, toothpaste and more. We are officially off the snide! Let's keep it going, this is just the beginning of so much we need to get!

Approaching 4 pm now. Still sitting with just the one donation, and we're still ok with that. It was a good one to get us started! Tomorrow we're going to be targeting certain items so we'll talk more about that. Here's to hoping it's a good little run to close out day one as work lets out for the day.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. Jackie Kingston from our partners at KAMR 4 showed up to do some TV stuff. We love them for it. Great partners who believe in Amarillo.

Just after 5 pm and the interest is starting to rise. People stopping by the tables as we broadcast asking for a list, where to find it, what we need the most.

Well I can tell you right now what we need the most is...EVERYTHING! Hey, day one, gotta start from the bottom to reach the top. Gonna feel pretty good to quote Drake when this is all said and done though. "Started from the bottom now we here".

We're gonna get there because of you! Help4theholidays.com is where you can get the list. Signing off for tonight, but court here collecting until 7 pm! Hope to see you before you call it a night.