by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Life isn’t easy these days for the residents of Gulfport, Miss. — a small community that was devastated, and practically forgotten, by Hurricane Katrina. Houses are gone. Schools are no more. Businesses aren’t just wrecked, they no longer exist.
Enter Terry Smith, a Jacksonville resident who has been making weekly pilgrimages to Gulfport, hauling truckfuls of clothing, blankets, water, food and other bare-bones necessities. With the weather turning colder and the holidays looming, life in Gulfport is going to get worse before it gets better.
Enter the folks at Re/Max.
“There are 1,600 kids in Gulfport in need of everything,” said Mary Gaskill, an agent with Re/Max who is leading the local effort to help assure the holidays are mildly enjoyable and the winter is bearable. “Two elementary schools — East Hancock and North Hancock — are totally destroyed. Most of those families lost their homes and everything they owned, too.”
Gaskill said Re/Max is holding a month-long drive seeking donations of warm clothing, bedding and blankets and toys for the kids for the holidays.
On Dec. 12, Gaskill and many others from Re/Max will follow Smith along Interstate 10 with what they hope is U-Haul after U-Haul of basic necessities.
“Terry went over there the second day after the storm,” said Gaskill, adding Smith isn’t affiliated with any group, but because about a dozen Re/Max offices in the Gulfport area were leveled, the entire company has realized the need to pitch in. “She goes over there every weekend with furniture, food, water. But, she can’t do it all.”
The Re/Max effort gets underway in earnest this week. Every agent has committed to calling on former and current clients and business contacts — from lenders to builders to title companies — in an effort to secure donations.
“The campaign is called ‘A Christmas to Care’ and, of course, I’m going,” said Gaskill. “Each agent is calling people they have worked with throughout the year. We are trying to get enough toys for about 500-600 kids. Some elderly folks have had everything wiped out and we are trying to get toys for them to give to their grandchildren.”
Gaskill said anyone willing to help can do so one of two ways: by either donating the needed items or by picking a card from a Gulfport child and working on the child’s wish list. Apparently, the campaign has gone over well with the entire company.
“They love it and they really want to help,” said Gaskill, who hasn’t been to the Gulf Coast region since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area in August, but she’s looking forward to going. “When you call an 800 number, you are never exactly sure where or what you are giving to. We have pictures of the kids, so we have a more personal connection. We will try to stay in touch with them as much as possible. The Re/Max offices in Gulfport are trying to help their own, but they are involved in the campaign. Many of those offices were wiped out and are completely gone. Not only did they lose their businesses, but no one is buying or selling anything, either.”