Doubts Erased

I had my doubts. Would the expense of flying up north, renting a UHaul truck, filling it, and then driving it back to New Orleans (with gas prices being what they are these days) be worth the return? I knew what we were doing was good, and would help. We'd be bringing furniture and household items back to a place where those things are sorely needed. There was no question about that. But as we get the St. Bernard Recovery Corp. off the ground, every dollar counts. For the good of everyone, including yours truly, my doubts were erased pretty quickly.

Monday of last week, I loaded up a 17-foot UHaul box truck about two-thirds full with furniture (and much more) from my aunt's house in New Hampshire. Tuesday, we filled the rest of it at Erin's (my SBRC partner) mom's house in New York, and late Tuesday night, we hit the road. Three days later, we were back in St. Bernard, unloading what had to be a few thousand dollars worth of stuff. More importantly, though, we have things that might lift a family's spirits a bit, might give them a smile, might give them a place to put some clothes that at the moment sit in a pile on a floor somewhere. In a few weeks, after I go to Florida to get another load of goods that my dad is helping to gather from donors in the Jacksonville area, I'm going to set up a distribution day where I'll invite families that I'm working with to come and pick out things they want and need.

None of the stuff will be critical to anyone's day to day survival. But it will be enough to make someone's newly rehabbed home or FEMA Trailer to be a bit more normal. And that, more than the worth of all the goods, is why last week's road trip was worth it.