Here it is 3 weeks later, and people all across this great country are still showing amazing acts of humanity to make things a little easier for those whose lives were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Case in point: Taylor Rutledge from Clarksville, Tennessee put together sixty (60) backpacks and loaded them each with lots of fun stuff and necessities… just for kids.
Taylor’s parents, Jeremiah and Tawana, have a right to be proud of their daughter. In response to Katrina: A FUN Way To Help!, they submitted this photo, along with the following story describing Taylor’s heroic “Hugs For Hurricane Victims Drive”.
Taylor’s parents write:
This is a picture of our daughter Taylor Rutledge with the 60 backpacks she collected from her “Hugs For Hurricane Victims Drive” she held for 2 weeks in our neighborhood. She even emailed her flyer to some schools and asked them to participate.
Byrns Darden Elementary and Kenwood Elementary emailed her back and agreed to help and they did. We delivered them to Grace Works ministries on yesterday (Sept. 17, 2005). She came up with this idea because she wanted to give the kids from the Hurricane a hug, so her clear backpacks were filled with toothpaste, tooth brushes, hand sanitizer, stuffed animals, candy, pencils, crayons, paper, socks, towels, washcloths, soap and some had clothes.
The general idea was each backpack had some things the kids needed, something to write or draw on, a toy and candy to try to take their minds off of what was going on.
We are very proud of her and we really appreciate the schools’ and the community’s help with her drive.
NOTE: Taylor’s story has prompted us to extend our offer to donate $1 for every photo submitted to The Fun Times Guide showing everyday people helping Katrina victims. The new deadline to submit photos is September 30, 2005.
—> Here’s the form to submit your own photo.
—> Here are the photos we’ve received of people helping people.
UPDATE 9/24/05:
We recently learned of another 4th grader who went above & beyond to help young victims of Hurricane Katrina. Read her story here.
As a homeowner, I primarily write about weather safety tips that everyone should know in order to protect their home and family during major weather events. I especially like to share seasonal “outside the box” ideas that most wouldn’t think of in the Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall.
The weather events I’ve personally experienced include: Hurricanes (while living in Florida), Tornadoes (while living in Indiana, Texas, and Tennessee), Earthquakes (while visiting California), Blizzards (while living in New York and Indiana), and Flooding (while living in Tennessee).
