Thanksgiving week was different for the Bagley family in 2005. As Elaine and I learned over the past few months about the hundreds of volunteers working on the Katrina relief effort, we decided we needed to do our turn. So the Friday before Thanksgiving, we pointed our Toyota toward Waveland, Mississippi and drove straight through. We had arranged to teamup with Hearts With Hands, Inc. a wonderful group headquarted in Asheville whose mission is to reach out to communities impacted by disasters. Read more...

Remains of Gulfside Assembly Methodist Church

Two tents housing some number of families where a house had been

Line into clothing tent at Camp Katrina with dining tent, serving
residents and volunteers, in the background

Hearts with Hands volunteers from Jennings Building Supply in
Cashiers, Sylva, Asheville, Franklin and Waynesville, WNC. Pictured L/R
are Brandon Mason, his dad Jeff Mason, and S.L. Justin. Thanks, Dick
Jennings, who has been regularly sending volunteers down to help!!!

Hearts with Hands leaders: [L/R] Maggie Ryan, Tricia Myrick (Executive
Director at Hearts with Hands) and Jessica Beane. These three wonderful
ladies guided the efforts of the volunteers at our site.

Mark Joseph, the "foreman" of the site who had been working tirelessly
for weeks to organize and lead much of our manual effort. A very special
guy, Mark was the only person at our site who knew how to operate a forklift.

Two residents from Waveland, Mississippi, a math teacher and her merchant
seaman father, join Rick in front of the local Burger King. About three miles
inland, the Burger King, like most local businesses, remains closed.

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