You may not be able to pack a prayer in a bucket, but many in Haiti may very much be getting just that in a week.

First Baptist Church Pflugerville is coordinating its “Buckets of Hope” disaster relief drive, to benefit earthquake victims in Haiti. Members of the church will be collecting pails of food and materials to be sent to the disaster-torn country on March 15. Church members will be collecting pre-packaged buckets until 7 p.m. March 14.

With another earthquake having since struck in Chili and the nation’s economy in dire straits, it would be easy to understand how the thoughts of some people may have already moved away from Haiti and to other things. But it’s commendable how First Baptist Church continues to push ahead with its humanitarian efforts.

“I really like this project because it is a more personal way to help the people in Haiti than just sending a donation to an agency,” said church member Julia Ruiz in an e-mail. “Donations are important and needed but I believe people would find meaning in personally packing food for a family.”

According to Ruiz, a five-gallon “Bucket of Hope” is packed with two 5-pound bags of rice, one 48-ounce bottle of cooking oil, four 1-pound bags of beans, one 5-pound bag of flour, one 20-ounce cylinder of white sugar, two 1-pound boxes of spaghetti noodles, one 40-ounce jar of peanut butter and one 2-gallon sealed storage bag (used to wrap the cooking oil).

The materials can be purchased for approximately $30, and with $10 cash donations submitted to offset the costs of transporting the buckets, the project cost comes to $40 a person.

Church officials note senders should pray for the family to receive the food before they pack each bucket.

The project is one of the North American Mission Board. For details go online to fbcpville.org/Haiti.htm or namb.net or call First Baptist Church Pflugerville at 251-3052.

Kudos to those at the church for their humanitarian efforts.

School, city officials spread the word quickly

Snow fell and melted last week, and to many area children, it simply was a unique chance to roll around in the cold stuff or create an actual snowman. And play they did, with some of the snowmen coming on rooftops, with overalls on or in some other shape or size. It was nice to see.

But for local school and city officials, the snow day was much more than a day of play. Many went into action soon after the first snowflakes touched down. Pflugerville ISD on Tuesday morning cancelled its Community Forum, scheduled for Tuesday evening, and later that day ended classes early at high schools. The actions were taken in order to prevent motorists from having to brave questionable road conditions because of school-related events after sunset that day, when conditions were expected to worsen.

City of Pflugerville leaders took similar actions, as well, closing the library and other facilities earlier than usual and canceling a City Council meeting.

So City Councilmembers and PISD school board members got the opportunity to throw a few snowballs along with local children but more importantly (perhaps) was how word was so quickly disseminated by local authorities.

Long gone are the days when we had to be glued to our television sets in the hope of determining if the kids needed to be picked up early. Instead came a barrage of e-mails, Web site updates and more in the name of instant communication.

Technology has its faults – it will be difficult for it to ever replace a firm handshake or hug of a loved one – but in this case, it came through in flying colors. All who focused their efforts on keeping their hands on their keyboards – instead of on snowballs – in the name of safety deserve praise.