When Hurricane Katrina hit, I like so many people was touched by the pictures of the survivors. I wanted to do something. I thought "…what if individuals could sponsor Caring Coins for the survivors?" People were so grateful to have something personal and tangible that would show the survivors that they cared. Seeing how people wanted to reach out to others inspired me to draw the two little Me to You figures which became our logo for the You Are Never Alone Foundation.
During this time, I met a young man from New Orleans, who was staying with family in our area, at a benefit in our town for the survivors. He agreed to bring 1500 individually sponsored Caring Coins home with him to New Orleans.
I knew I was going to Houston but I didn't have a plan, so I had called an old friend, Pat, who lived in Katy Texas, just outside of Houston. I told Pat what I wanted to do. She said "Come on down, we'll share them together>" So I got on the plane with 2300 individually sponsored Caring Coins As I traveled to Houston, I wondered how these coins and cards would be received by the survivors, who had lost everything. I would soon find out.
Pat and I went from place to place to share the coins. It is difficult to put into words the impact of seeing so many people of all ages, of different races, religions, and economic backgrounds with plastic bags containing all their earthly possessions. All had stories of destroyed homes, lost family members and friends, no place to go, and no jobs. You could see it in their eyes.
The survivors and the volunteers smiled as we told them that people cared about them. One by one, we put the raffia ribbon with the Caring Coin and card around the neck of each survivor, gave each a hug, telling them that the person whose name was written on the card cared. All hugs were warmly received and returned.
We were so touched to see the hope in the survivors' eyes as they read the message You are never alone on the Caring Coins.
Have you ever noticed how hope helps us put one foot in front of the other?
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