I met many great LSU friends before, during, and after our game, and we haven't forgotten you. All of my family are donating as much as we can to The Red Cross, and my company is coordinating a business fund-drive starting today in Palm Beach County, Florida with focus on matching business funds from our partners. God bless and I hope all of your family and friends are safe. I'm sure you all have seen it, but the below video is what I've emailed my friends and relatives to help with perspective (and motivate them to dig deep). The video is the first link in the article titled "Watch the video report of a husband who lost all he had -- 1:07". http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/30/katrina/index.html
Thank you very much, FloridaHawk82. Even though I am far from Kitrina's destruction from the Gulf coast, my entire family are all still down in the New Orleans area. Some evacuated to Houston, but my parents only went as far as Thibodaux, LA because my grandmother couldn't make a longer travel. I'm such in a state of helplessness up here in Boston. Knowing that so many people I know and care about, in the New Orleans and surrounding areas, still can't be reached and I, like thousands of others, are sort of left with a lot of "unknowns". I've been watching CNN every minute I can to gather information. But the more I watch, the more heartbroken I become when I see images of places I've lived and been to, completely destroyed or under water. Not to mention seeing people stranded, or reports of dead bodies floating around. To anyone involved in rescue efforts, a sincere "Thank you", is what I offer....and in a situation like this, my simple thank you just doesn't seem to be enough. My thoughts and prayers are will all of you.
Hawk, I am proud to say that my Dad (LSU class of 1949) was born in Waterloo, Iowa. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
Thanks for the comments. We are all simply trying to help in our own small way. Along those lines, the fund drive I mentioned in my original post went very well. We commited most of our office and sales staff today to calling our business partners and a few of our top clients. We challenged each of them that we would match their contribution. Some of our smaller partners contributed $250 or $500. We had seven partners contribute $1000, one for $1500, and then about an hour ago Universal Studios threw $5000 on the table! The $16,250 pledged by our partners exceeded our expectations, as we did the same thing last year after Hurricane Francis and had $7400 pledged(and it hit our home office!). I think this speaks to the obvious seriousness that people are observing. We are gladly matching the $16,250, these are all trusted (and good paying) partners, so we are sending The Amrican Red Cross $32,500 first thing tomorrow.
Prayers from Colorado as well. Although I am far away this hit way too close to home since I have family all over Louisiana including New Orleans. Everyone is ok my way. I just can't believe the aftermath, If I didn't know better I would say no way could a hurricane be that powerful. It looks more like an earthquake followed by a tidal wave, I am referring to the 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake and the tidal wave. I have seen plenty of pictures and videos on this. I'm shocked and stunned by the coverage I've seen today of Louisiana and Mississippi, the aftermath! God Bless!
Thanks!!!! As much as we appreciate the money we are in greater need of prayers. Please send as many of those as you can too.
