Americans help Katrina victims.

During the first dismal days after Hurricane Katrina devastated large parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, Americans watched their TVs in disbelief Scenes from the city of New Orleans, in particular, reminded viewers that catastrophic disasters did not occur only in Third World nations.

Once the initial shock wore off, people across America responded as they always have when those less fortunate than themselves needed help. This time, however, those in need were their fellow countrymen, so the response was more generous than ever. We offer the following vignettes, not organized by time or location, as random examples of the goodness shown by people all across America toward other Americans. They have been chosen not because they are exceptional, but because, taken together, they present a picture of America that has become--to our national collective credit--almost typical. We salute these Americans, along with thousands more who remain nameless, who gave of themselves when their help was most needed.

Giving Time and Money

A few enterprising individuals, after wondering why "somebody wasn't doing something" to help Katrina's victims, realized that they were somebody. Two Californians, in particular, exhibited their "take-charge" approach to disaster relief.

The first, Gary Maclaughlin of Santa Cruz, California, flew to Nashville, Tennessee, on September 2, at his own expense. Once there, he bought a used school bus for $2,000 and stocked it with $1,500 worth of diapers, bottled water, granola bars and peanut butter crackers paid for with his credit card. By September 4, he was picking up loads of evacuees from the New Orleans airport and driving them to a rescue shelter in Covington, Louisiana.

The other Californian, David Perez, chairman and CEO of Carmel Valley-based Surge Global Energy, also thought that the government response to rescue Katrina's victims was far too slow, so he demonstrated the free-enterprise approach to disaster relief. He decided to evacuate some of New Orleans on his own. Perez spent $250,000 to charter a Boeing 737 and purchase a planeload of relief supplies at a local Costco. After flying to New Orleans and unloading the much-needed cargo, Perez took aboard 82 displaced hurricane victims on his plane.

The plane flew the people to San Diego, where arrangements were being made to accomodate them.

Shaquille O'Neal, the 7'1", 325-pound, 12-time All-Star of the NBA's Miami Heat, along with his wife, Shaunie, coordinated an effort in South Florida to ship tractor-trailer loads of relief supplies to Katrina's victims on the Gulf Coast. Following a two-day visit to Louisiana, where O'Neal once attended LSU, the star athlete decided a monetary contribution was insufficient, so he got personally involved.

The O'Neals personally accepted donations and thanked those bringing the badly needed items to the drop-off center; Shaquille even helped load the trucks.

"I commend everybody who's helping out in some way," O'Neal told the AR "Whether it's monetarily or going to the stores and buying cases of water, bundles of ice ... there's a lot of people chipping in, and my hat goes off to every American and non-American that's helping."

Crescent City Courage

There were undoubtedly thousands of New Orleans residents who exhibited character in the face of adversity, but whose stead-fastness was unfortunately overshadowed by the disgraceful behavior of the criminal class that overran the city. Leo Baker, one of the people whom David Perez had flown to San Diego, was among the brave-hearted.

Before evacuating, Baker, a 35-year-old mortician, had spent four days on a rooftop above the flooded Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. On one occasion, he dove into the filthy waters to rescue a drowning baby. He also helped 15 people make it through the water to safety, once encountering an alligator. On another occasion, Baker tied a tourniquet around a friend's finger after the friend had been bitten by a water moccasin.

Another brave New Orleanian is only six years old. His name is Deamonte Love, and he lived up to his name by showing loving concern for a group of six small children even younger than himself. Deamonte was found leading the group of tykes, hand-in-hand, along New Orleans' Causeway Boulevard. One girl that Deamonte had assumed responsibility for was only three, and she led along her 14-month-old brother. Three other children about two years old also followed Deamonte to an unknown destination. They sensed, instinctively, that this "big" boy would take care of them. As they walked, Deamonte carried his five-month-old brother, Darynael, in his arms.

Pat Coveney, a Houston EMT sent to New Orleans who drove the children out of New Orleans in his ambulance, wondered: "How did a 6-year-old end up being in charge of six babies?"

Relief workers, after considerable effort, managed to track down the childrens' parents and solve the mystery: Deamonte's mother, Catrina Williams, who was in a shelter in San Antonio along with the mothers of the other children, explained that the family had been trapped in an apartment surrounded by flood waters for four days when a rescue helicopter arrived. The crew told them to load the children aboard first and that the helicopter would return in 25 minutes to pick up the rest. However, the helicopter did not return. The parents were eventually evacuated to San Antonio. In the meantime, our story about young Deamonte took place. When the Social Service workers located the children's parents, the children, who had been taken to Baton Rouge, were flown to San Antonio to be reunited with their parents.

Derrick Robertson, a 27-year-old Big Buddy mentor who looked after the children, told the Chicago Tribune: "I think what's going to stick with them is that they survived Hurricane Katrina.... And that they were loved."

Giving at Work

Many members of America's business, professional, and blue-collar workforce took time out from their busy careers to help others. One group of coworkers at Smith & Associates in Tampa, Florida, collected $20,000 worth of supplies for Katrina's victims. They filled two trucks with bottled water, diapers, baby food and formula, deodorant, toothpaste, and other necessities. The trucks were scheduled to head for Daphne, Alabama, a town on Mobile Bay, where victims were expecting their arrival.

"These people don't have showers. They don't have any sort of toiletries. They're necessities," Becky Michelbrook of Smith & Associates told station WFTS Action News in Tampa.

Fort Lauderdale attorney Herb Cohen assembled a team of four medical professionals from Orlando. The group traveled to Houston on a jet paid for by the Aero Toy Store to provide medical assistance to thousands of evacuees. "Like everybody else, I got frustrated watching the images on TV," Cohen told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I just kept seeing young children being held by their mothers, and it looked like they were dying."

Employees of the Columbus, Georgia, Courtyard by Marriott pooled their room vouchers--which they earned as bonuses--to give an evacuated family a hotel room for 11 nights. Other employees took up collections to buy shoes for the children of evacuees, so the children could attend school.

First Responders Respond

Those who normally act to help disaster victims, either as paid or volunteer workers, came through in a big way to help Katrina's victims.

The Red Cross in Columbus, Georgia, provided shelter for 121 people displaced by the hurricane, and other services for about 500 people. The local Red Cross development director, Mitzi Oxford, said her organization provided "food, supplies, mental health counseling, [and] basic first aid."

"We put up a bulletin board that provides a list of job opportunities," continued Oxford in an interview with the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. "These people are interested in getting a job--they don't want to be in a shelter; they want to be productive. A lot of people are going to end up staying here. They like Columbus, and they don't really have anything to go home to."

Not far away, volunteer firefighters from the town of Livonia, Georgia, held a benefit barbecue for the evacuees and raised enough to donate $1,000 to the Red Cross. And they also collected about eight truckloads of used clothing, sleeping bags and other supplies, which they will use to stock a free store for evacuees.

Church Groups Show Faith

Reports of church congregations helping hurricane victims are too numerous to offer anything but a few examples.

The Ashley County, Arkansas, Ledger reported that people in their county hosted some of the hurricane's refugees, and two of the local churches in the area (Promise Land Missionary Baptist Church and Calvary Baptist Church) offered to house a total of 75 people.

The Columbus, Georgia, Ledger-Enquirer reported that St. Patrick's church in nearby Phenix City, Alabama, served hurricane evacuees a Thanksgiving-style dinner for Labor Day.

The Salvation Army in Minnesota set up its red kettles early this year, to collect money for hurricane victims. Salvation Army spokeswoman Annette Bauer told the media about kettles the group set up outside the Minnesota State Fair: "Every single person coming out of the stands put money in there."

Several truckloads of tents, sleeping bags, bottles of drinking water, and five-gallon gas containers for Katrina's victims were sent to the Gulf Coast from the LDS (Mormon) Bishops' Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City. According to a Philadelphia Inquirer report, the church's meetinghouse in Metairie, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb, served as an American Red Cross Shelter and a destination for carloads of the state's refugee families.

Children Contribute

The nation's children, from preschoolers to teens, demonstrated a remarkable sense of enterprise in raising funds for Katrina's victims.

For example, six-year-old Angelo Ward and his four siblings in Santa Maria, California, set up a lemonade stand in front of an Albertson's supermarket and collected $735 in one weekend. Angelo told reporters from Channel 6 KSBY TV in San Luis Obispo that he felt bad for children in the region hit by the hurricane "because they had no homes, no cars, no food, no dogs, no brothers or sisters, no parents, nothing." The area's Mid-State Bank offered to match every dollar that the children collected.

Ten-year-old Melissa McLean of Hollywood, Florida, raised more than $700 in two days selling lemonade at a street corner in her neighborhood. Some people donated $10 or more for a cup of lemonade. "I wanted to do something to help the people out in New Orleans," Melissa told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "It's so sad to see all these little kids that got affected." The girl planned to donate the proceeds to the American Red Cross.

Six-year-old Thomas Caruso of Paramus, New Jersey, watched a woman on television--a Katrina victim--holding her baby and crying for help. The image made a deep impression on him. Thomas decided to give the $200 he had saved for a new Nintendo game to the hurricane victims. Accompanied by his mother, Jill Caruso, the lad deposited his money in the bank so his mother could write a check for the donation.

Ten pre-teens from Howard, Wisconsin, sold curbside Kool-Aid, freeze pops, and cookies and raised $60 for the Red Cross. "They're so excited, so proud to help and be part of something much bigger," parent Kimmer Christensen told the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

People Give of Themselves

Four people from the small town of Union, South Carolina, drove to Atlanta to pick up five families left homeless by the hurricane. The hosts in Union will give the refugees a place to live, along with groceries and utilities for at least two months. The organizer of the town's effort, Vicki Morgan, told AP: "We want these families to be able to sit down at a meal with Momma cooking at the stove and become a family again."

Residents of Jonesboro, Arkansas, were able to render firsthand aid to evacuees of Hurricane Katrina, since many refugees from the Gulf Coast are staying in Jonesboro. Recently, church members and owners of the Pizza Max of Valley View donated 20 pizzas and brought them to a Super 8 Motel, going door-to-door searching for evacuees.

Amy Goodpasture, the front desk clerk at the motel, told the Jonesboro Sun that several community and church groups have come to her motel in recent days to offer help. "Groups do make an impact. Local people have brought food. People have begun to appreciate our community," she said.