Well, in record time (is there a record for this kind of thing?) we pulled together a household for our Louisiana family. We beat the feds, anyway! :-)

So many generous people brought things to the house, and some particularly special people helped me clean and organize on Monday and Tuesday evenings. I'd especially like to thank Anna, Sharmi, Chris, Annie, Jan, Eileen, Paula, Melinda, and Ryan for their extra time and their willingness to help with the less glamorous jobs. The home is essentially put together now, with clean sheets on the beds, towels on the racks, food in the pantry, and a lot of love went into putting everything in its place. The kids will not lack for toys, that's for sure! Mike of ARS Plumbing donated his time to fix a leaky washer valve. And Student Movers went above and beyond to pick up furniture and household items all over the Front Range - from Westminster to Loveland and everywhere in between. And Annie told me today that the car for the family is parked in the driveway now!

Dave saw the house for the first time today (he's been working full time and watching the kids after work is done, so he's been a busy boy!), and he was blown away by everything you all have done. It was great to follow him around, hearing one "Whoa! LOOK at this!" after another.

I've collected $590 so far in cash and checks that will go towards utilities and groceries for the Campbells, as well as some grocery gift cards ($100 so far). I noticed some envelopes have been left for the Campbell family on the dining room table by various folks; I'm sure they will appreciate whatever is in them - whether it's welcome greetings or grocery coupons, or both! Dave and I have committed to at least make sure that the utilities are paid at minimum for their six month stay, and that we'll help with groceries as long as we're able. Funds for both of these things will come out of the account we've established for the Campbells. We know we'll need more help if we are going to pay for food for very long. We are giving all of this money directly to the utility companies or the Campbells themselves; if there is any money left over at the end of 6 months (wow - wouldn't that be great!) we will donate it to the general disaster relief fund of the Red Cross. If you care to contribute, we're extremely grateful for the help, particularly since the mortgage payment will be coming out of a different account - our own!

I received a call from Keith, a pastor from a church in Fort Collins, who is among the drivers bringing survivors of the hurricane to Colorado. Keith and several other folks from the area quite literally decided to drive down to Louisiana with vans to pick people up any families who were willing to come. They were driving over 800 miles a day to get there - we expect it will be slower coming back to Colorado with so many little children in tow. He's so impressed with you all - he says he absolutely gets chills thinking of all that is being done to help this family. We may have some additional resources contributed by Keith's group in Fort Collins - we'll let you know.

Anyway, the Campbell family's departure has been delayed by several things: difficulty getting around Louisiana, they wanted to cash their Louisiana food stamps while they still could (we're certainly glad if they can bring some food along to further the life of the stocked pantry!), and they wanted to go through whatever could be salvaged from their old home. They will be bringing some things along with them, but essentially no furniture or clothes to speak of (at least this is the report from Keith). I imagine the inertia of 6 children hasn't helped move things along, either, but as of today they are DEFINITELY on the road! Cell phone service is very unpredictable in Louisiana right now, so it's been difficult to get information regularly. I expect updates from Keith as they make progress, and our current ETA is Friday, or maybe even Saturday if they need to go slowly for the kids.

Since they will be fresh from their travels this weekend, I will look into scheduling a picnic for next Saturday, rather than this coming one (assuming the Campbells are open to that). I'd like to give them plenty of time to recover before asking them to meet a bunch of people.

Thank you all so much for all your generosity. I am honored to be surrounded by people like you.

Love and thanks,
Amy