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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (214473)	8/4/2007 12:46:51 PM
From: KLP	Respond to of 793939

We didn't. And heaven only knows, there was certainly ample coverage provided so that we could see such things if they actually occurred.

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (214473)	8/4/2007 10:32:11 PM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793939

I doubt you'd have seen the same in New Orleans. I think we did. The press failed to recognize it and report it. Immediately after Katrina, my wife and I spent one day in East Texas and one month in Louisiana and Mississippi as part of the volunteer effort. I'm sure I posted a bit about it back then. Briefly, I can tell you that The Salvation Army and Red Cross volunteers were magnificent. We never saw Goodwill, and the secret ingredients that made support so successful were the support and donations rendered by volunteers from America's churches. We met volunteers - from dozens of states. Our Idaho neighbors had painted "Louisiana bound - school supplies and childrens clothing" on our camper and vehicle windows. People stopped us everywhere. Before we finished the drive from Coeur d'Alene to Louisiana our camper barely had room for us to sleep and the Ford Excursion was full to the ceiling. Upon arrival, we met hundreds and thousands of volunteers everyday who came from all 4 corners of the nation. They were young, old, pretty and pretty ugly. They just wanted to work the problem and assist the needy, and did so everyday. There were no hotel rooms. The volunteers without campers lived in their cars, tents and warehouses, and it was hot, and it was muggy, and it was buggy, but folks stayed on and on because the need was so great. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Made doubly so because it was in America. One of my fondest memories is a day another SFer and I were searching for and finding church camps (we had heard about) in the boonies that were crammed with refugees and out of food. We plotted their locations and took their needs lists back to a Red cross warehouse so food deliveries could be initiated the next morning. Earlier that morning we had left our wives at a Salvation Army distribution center to work. When done, we returned to pick them up. They were obviously exhausted and looked limp. As we left the warehouse that evening the wives said they had no ice all day and would like a cold drink. It was 95 degrees and felt like 95% humidity and the warehouses we worked were not air conditioned. I drove quickly into a grocery store parking lot. There was no ice, but they did have refrigerated drinks. As we sipped four elderly women approached us. They had been "customers" at the Salvation Army facility earlier. They asked the Karen if she worked for SA. Karen explained no and that we were volunteers. One of the women, an octogenarian in my estimation, started crying and tried to give my Karen $20. Karen was shocked and told the woman she could not accept her money. The lady explained she had lost everything, her home was totally destroyed, but she wanted to help. And she was giving Karen $20 to give to another needy person. I told Karen to accept the donation and we would give it away which we did about 20 minutes or less later. I have dozens of similar Katrina stories that your comment brought back to mind. This is a very giving country with 2 little problems - Our press and our politics.