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Area residents deliver supplies to devastated Gulf Coast
By Justin Goble
A group of Sylva residents recently returned from a relief trip to the Gulf Coast area.
Margaret Hamilton and her son Austin, along with Smoky Mountain High School teachers John Douthit and Victoria McDonald drove a 26-foot U-haul full of relief supplies into Mississippi on Sept. 6. The group had collected the goods and money throughout Jackson County to help with the relief effort in the areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Sylva residents Margaret Hamilton, left, Austin Hamilton, standing in truck, and Victoria McDonald, third from right, help distribute items in hurricane affected areas in Mississippi. The group traveled to the Gulf Coast with supplies and funds raised in Jackson County to help with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
“We got to Gulfport, Miss., and we were giving to Christ in Action,” Hamilton said. “They were overloaded with supplies. So we went to a poorer community in Gulfport and took the supplies to the Boys and Girls club. They didn’t have anything.”
From Gulfport, the group traveled to Biloxi, Miss., where they volunteered for two days.
While a lot of concern was over the houses and neighborhoods in the area, McDonald said that some of the people they encountered wanted simple things.
Margaret Hamilton of Sylva and her relief team witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. She said that sights such as this one were common throughout their four-day trip, and that while some communities looked uninhabitable, people still lived there and had already began work to rebuild.
“We met one guy and all he wanted was peanut butter,” she said. “Another guy wanted a bottle of shampoo.”
While the group didn’t experience any of the violence and looting that has been heavily reported, Hamilton said that they were constantly aware of the fact that it was happening.
“When we reached Meridian, Miss., we couldn’t go any farther because of the curfew,” she said. “So the police put us down for the night where they were guarding the power trucks. When we stopped to eat at one restaurant, the waitress told us that across the street a woman’s car was hijacked and she was killed.”
Despite such stories, Hamilton and McDonald said that they saw a lot of strength and faith in the people they encountered. Hamilton said that many she and others offered supplies to were adamant that those who needed them more got them first.
“One woman told me, ‘My prayer room wasn’t touched,’” McDonald said. “So I asked to see it. There was a small stool in the middle of the floor, and it wasn’t touched. There were three books in the floor, and they weren’t wet. But in the bedroom, the bed was thrown up against the wall. The woman told me that the prayer room was the only room she was worried about, and that she prayed it wouldn’t be hurt. That’s powerful. That’s God’s work.”
After such an experience, Hamilton said the most difficult thing she had to do was leave,
“We didn’t want to leave,” she said. “It was so hard to get in the car and say goodbye that day. You just wanted to help.”
Hamilton is currently planning another trip to area for Oct. 11 to help with the clean-up effort. Anyone wanting to volunteer for it can contact Hamilton at 421-4462.
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