Speaking of smelling bad . . . Our home is in a rural community of Williamson County just south of Nashville with access to Interstate 40 which runs to Memphis. My wife reports that storm evacuees with Louisiana license plates are living in their automobiles all over the Nashville area and quite a number are right in our town.
My wife reports that half the autos at the local Sonic had Louisiana plates. And when she rolled down the window, she caught the aroma of a family that had been living in their car for 5 or 6 days. These are the ones that could not afford hotel rooms and are doing the best they can for their families short notice, all things considered.
All we can do is send money to one relief organization or another for the New Orleans refugees and hope it gets to someone who needs it. But for those who say go do something or shut up, I am in the process of gathering monies from my friends and relatives here in Ohio to place into a PayPal account (info@viewresearch.com) with debit card.
My wife in the Nashville area can then use this money to purchase gift certificates to Fred's, a discount store with a pharmacy, inexpensive clothing, food, toiletries, etc. . . and place them into envelopes along with a little cash, perhaps a Flying J gas card and instructions on locations where showers and additional assistance can be found in the area. Set up the packets ahead of time, then take an hour out of her day and go and deliver them to those who appear to need them most. . . the idea being to locate those obviously living out of their cars and approach them directly with the gift.
I don't know. At least it will make a small difference that is measurable, direct and immediate.
Rande Is |
