WDWHound
09-06-2005, 11:58 AM
Amidst the all the misery, frustration and suffering left in the wake of Hurricane Katerina, a bright light can be seen. The people of America are stepping up in staggering numbers and giving generously to help those in need. I witnessed it personally yesterday.
On Saturday, the city of Austin set up a donation center at an abandoned semiconductor plant. Immediatly, a line of cars 1/2 a mile long formed to donate, and for 3 days the line never got shorter as more and people came to donate. My wife and I took some new jeans that we recently had bought, as well as mattress and box springs donated by a friend over their in my truck Monday afternoon, the line was still 1/2 a mile long, but it moved quickly and we were at the unload point (an old parking garage) in 15 minutes. There, dozons of highschool kids were volunterring their time to unload the vehilces. They had teams unloading 4 vehilces at a time, yet they coulkd barely keep up with the rush of people who were constantly ariving at the end of the line.
What we saw in the garage was amazing. 2 entire stories of the garage were litterally filled to the brim with donated materials. All around, an army of volunteers worked their tailbones off sorting the items and getting the ready for shipment to shelters. It was hard work, yet no one seemed angry, frutrated or tired. Most people were smiling. They knew they were making a difference.
I still smile when I think about it. 1/2 a mile of people patiently waiting to give what they could, with people people ariving as fast as they could move people through. Dozens of kids and adults working tirelssly to handle the donations. It was the best of the human spirit there on display. A light of sunshine after a very dark week.
If you are interested, here is a link to a local news story about the effort. They actually had to shut down temporaily today becuase they had no more room in the parking garage, but they will be back up and running soon
http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=3811122&nav=0s3ceBDV
On Saturday, the city of Austin set up a donation center at an abandoned semiconductor plant. Immediatly, a line of cars 1/2 a mile long formed to donate, and for 3 days the line never got shorter as more and people came to donate. My wife and I took some new jeans that we recently had bought, as well as mattress and box springs donated by a friend over their in my truck Monday afternoon, the line was still 1/2 a mile long, but it moved quickly and we were at the unload point (an old parking garage) in 15 minutes. There, dozons of highschool kids were volunterring their time to unload the vehilces. They had teams unloading 4 vehilces at a time, yet they coulkd barely keep up with the rush of people who were constantly ariving at the end of the line.
What we saw in the garage was amazing. 2 entire stories of the garage were litterally filled to the brim with donated materials. All around, an army of volunteers worked their tailbones off sorting the items and getting the ready for shipment to shelters. It was hard work, yet no one seemed angry, frutrated or tired. Most people were smiling. They knew they were making a difference.
I still smile when I think about it. 1/2 a mile of people patiently waiting to give what they could, with people people ariving as fast as they could move people through. Dozens of kids and adults working tirelssly to handle the donations. It was the best of the human spirit there on display. A light of sunshine after a very dark week.
If you are interested, here is a link to a local news story about the effort. They actually had to shut down temporaily today becuase they had no more room in the parking garage, but they will be back up and running soon
http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=3811122&nav=0s3ceBDV