I was given a gift today.   Our garage and master bathroom, and even my bedroom have been flooded with Hurricane Katrina donations for the past couple of months.  The boxes get moved, some get emptied, but then others arrive to take their place.  It’s been a lot of extra work.  Worthy of our time and space, I know, but sometimes it almost seems too much…

So two days ago, I offered some of the boxes on Freecycle, a really neat program where you give and take free items within your area.  I was a little worried that we wouldn’t be really helping any hurricane victims, which was the point of the boxes coming here in the first place.  But I mentioned that in the note, and added that the point is that the donations help people, so I’d like them to go out to whoever needs them. 

In response, I met the most wonderful people, and my life is richer for it: 

First, there was Misti, whose husband just offered a week of his time in Waveland, Mississippi.  He took a week without pay, leaving pregnant Misti and their four-year-old daughter.  They are glad he volunteered his time, but they are noticing the pinch of the lost paycheck.  Misti took two boxes, a case of Huggies, and a dozen outfits for her four-year-old.

Then Brandy came.  Her sister lost all of her belongings when her college flooded in the hurricane.  She had moved into the dorms just two weeks before.  Now, she lives in a “dumpy trailer” as Brandy calls it, in a location that seems a little shady.  But it was given to her rent-free, and there are no other options.  Brandy is the older sister, so she tries to look out for her younger sister.  But she says she can only do so much – they have a baby to care for, too.  I gave Brandy two boxes for her sister.

Natalie emailed me, asking if I had any extra toiletries.  I did, so she drove 40 miles round-trip to pick them up.  She is volunteering at the homeless shelter in Mobile, Alabama this weekend and will create packages of toiletries for them. Natalie was so grateful for the donations; they were running low because most items are being donated to Hurricane Katrina evacuees.  Natalie took eight boxes of donated hotel-sized toiletries. 

All of the people touched my heart, but it was Grace who melted it.  Grace emailed that she was “financially spent.” She’s been helping three families who lost much in the hurricane.  Her grown daughter, a mother of two in her twenties, came with Grace to my house.  The daughter’s home was in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and all was lost, even her only transportation.  Grace’s daughter nearly started crying when she talked of the past two months of hardship.  Clearly, she is not over the trauma yet.   I gave Grace three family boxes for the three families she is helping, including her daughter’s.  I also gave her six children’s goodie bags, full of toys, books, and candy for the children. 

This is the note I got from Grace soon after she got home:

LORI,

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HELPING THE 3 FAMILIES TODAY.  IT IS PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO MAKE THIS WORLD A GOOD PLACE AND WHEN PEOPLE LIKE YOU WITNESS FOR THE LORD LIKE THAT PEOPLE GET CURIOUS. I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THE 12 YEAR OLD BOY GAVE HIS TOY /GOODY BAG TO HIS 6 YEAR OLD BROTHER IN EXCHANGE FOR THE BIBLE. THAT MADE ME SO HAPPY YET SO SAD THAT HE DID NOT ALREADY HAVE ONE. HE IS A GOOD CHILD AND AS A MATTER OF FACT HIS FAMILY IS A GOOD ONE, JUST DOWN ON THEIR LUCK. FIRST I THANKED GOD NOW I THANK HIS VESSEL. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS.

And now it is my turn to thank God’s vessel – you - all of you who donated cash and items for us to share.  And I especially thank God’s vessels who still remember the Hurricane Katrina survivors in your prayers and in your thoughts every day.

Life is not easy for them yet. 

by Lori Seaborg