Generosity Brings Merry Christmas to Hurricane Victims
Dec. 23, 2005 — -- When Hayle Foote saw the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, she wanted to help. The 6-year-old from Connecticut came up with a fundraising campaign: "Buy a bear, show you care." The drive raised money to buy chocolate bears for the children of Pass Christian, Miss. Hayle delivered the shipments herself.
Small acts of kindness like Hayle's have made it a Merry Christmas for the people of Pass Christian who continue to struggle to rebuild their lives.
"A simple gift might have made their Christmas 100 percent better," said Steve Surace of New York's Westchester County Fire Chiefs Association.
Surace was part of a team of four Westchester County fire chiefs who delivered $170,000 in Christmas gifts bought with donations from their community.
"I had a little 6-year-old girl come up and dump her piggy bank in my boot so I was, I had tears in my eyes," Surace said.
Four months after Katrina, more than half of Pass Christian remains homeless, and the unemployment rate is four times higher than this time last year.
"My 33 years of fighting fires didn't prepare me for what we were going down there and ultimately saw," said Tom Boch, also of the Westchester County Fire Chiefs Association. "They are not getting the attention and help they need."
"It is unimaginable," Surace added. "It is heartbreaking. This is December. It's Christmas and there are still people living in tents. Come on, this is America. We shouldn't be doing that."
Every donation, however small, is appreciated by those affected by the hurricane.
"One little, small gesture will help you get through the day, then the week," said Malcolm Jones, Pass Christian's chief administrative officer.
On Friday, "GMA" anchor Robin Roberts was with Jones and other residents of her hometown of Pass Christian to present a check for $80,348.51 to the Salvation Army-Hurricane Relief Effort.
The money was raised from "GMA's" celebrity auction in partnership with the Salvation Army and the Corporation for National and Community Service.
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