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Why It’s Hard to Serve Others
Hurricane Katrina pounded the US Gulf Coast with relentless ferocity for 8 days in August of 2005. It caused an estimated $125 billion (or more) in damage — including the destruction of 300,000 homes — across 90,000 square miles of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. More than 1,800 people lost their lives during the storm.
The White House Office of Faith estimated that 550,000 volunteers flocked to the area in the hours, days, and weeks following the storm. In the second year following the storm, another 50,000 people were added to that number as people continued an unparalleled show of support for those impacted by the worst hurricane in recorded history.
I live in a city 1,700 miles from the hardest-hit area, yet organizations near where I live were the first to respond with relief supplies. 14 semi-loads of food, water, and other life-sustaining items were deployed within hours of the call for help with millions of dollars of additional supplies and tens of thousands of volunteers to follow.
It’s one of those periods in US history that reminds me what has made the United States of America such a wonderful place to live. The selfless service given by so many inspired and humbled me.
I remember watching from afar, wishing I had the kind of job where I could just drop everything and go help in a crisis.
