Well after Katrina hit the company I work for decided that they would match any employee donations and the money would be given to a Katrina fund. They also purchased items to bring down. I forget exactly how much of everything, but basically an 18foot trailer (just a guess) and a full size cargo van full of water (gallon jugs), ramen noodles, pop tarts, diapers, paper towels, toilet paper, cereal, granola bars, Velveeta cheese, Styrofoam plates and bowls, plastic forks and knives, and some other items.

My boss/uncle was going to drive down by himself so I volunteered to go with him. The original plan was to go to a Salvation Army drop off point several hours away from New Orleans. When we stopped to get gas and verify directions we met some people that were going within 30 miles of New Orleans and said that they knew of a place that we could give the items directly to the people that needed it. Thought that was better, we were not sure how long it would have taken the Salvation Army to get it there.

So we went on our way following them. We stopped at a church that they knew people at and they didn't have the space for what we had. While there we talked to a lady that was angry at the government because the response was so slow. She thanked the group of us that was together and we didn't even give her anything yet, sadly I don't even remember if we did give her anything.

We were told of another location that could use the items. Basically same story there, no space to store it. But they told us where the military was handing ice, water, and meal packs out. So we went there.

The military said they didn't have time to hand out what we had and what they had, but we could hand out what we had as long as we didn't slow their lines down. So we pulled in and setup, there was basically two groups plus the military. The other group, the people we had followed, had a full size pickup truck full of stuff.

I have no idea how long we were there, 3 or 4 hours maybe. The people were so grateful for what we had to give. Some couldn't thank us enough. Some were just too happy to get anything they couldn't even say anything. It didn't matter how wealthy someone was or wasn't, they all had the same need and were just as grateful.

The destruction that we saw while down there was not what I expected. It wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be, that’s not to say that it wasn't bad. I was expecting worse because of the extreme high winds. The way the trees were broken, snapped. Gas station canopies just demolished. Mobile home sales lots were bizarre. There would be a bunch of mobile homes lined up and one in the middle of the group (yes in the middle) would be flipped upside down or on its side with little or no visible damage to the surrounding units.

Counting Kentucky we went through 4 states twice in basically 3 days. We left on Friday night, around 11PM ET and I didn't get home until around 2:30PM ET on Sunday. We also stopped in Florence, Alabama and loaded the trailer and van up with office cubical parts and some chairs.

It was something that I will never forget. I was a bit embarrassed that I couldn't donate any money and going down there and helping to hand out the items was the only thing I could do. I felt good giving the items away, but I will always wish I could have done more.