Katrina: Victoria R. Rothacker

I  said if you wanted to take action in order to help Katrina victims, donate to the American Red Cross.  I realize now it isn't so simple.  For some of us, there is something deep inside that says,"I want to help!  No, I really want to help!"  It first hit me yesterday when I read Tommy's post telling us how he and his family helped Katrina victims.  It knocked me on my butt today when I heard my daughter Victoria say:

"You know Dad, some of us want to just jump in there and get our hands dirty.  We want to help."

No monetary donation will quench that thirst.  Well, Vickie found a way to just jump in there.  Please allow a proud Dad to tell how.

Vickie decided to call back Chris, the gentleman who had called her at the American Red Cross in search of help.  Chris is in the Cleveland area with his parents and wife Kimberly - from New Orleans.  Vickie wanted to find out if they needed help finding jobs.  They did.  So she put out a mass e-mail to her own personal network.  In addition to her close friends, Vickie's network permeates Cleveland's media, major non-profit charities and executives of some of Northeastern Ohio's leading advertising agencies.  It wasn't long before some of these folks started forwarding Vickie's request out into their own networks, multiplying like a Malcolm Gladwell experiment on steroids.  Soon the calls and e-mails began coming back to her. 

The passion within this correspondence has touched Vickie deeply.  People want to do something.  They want to help.  One company called with the ability to hire on ten or twelve people.  This is human spirit, American human spirit, at its finest.  I have to tell you, I am getting goose bumps right now thinking about it!

I came across  this request for help  and turned Vickie on to it.  Through her networking efforts, she is now in position to connect those Katrina victims who end up in Northeastern Ohio and in need of jobs, to those people and companies who need to help.

Big Request

If you know anyone that has made their way from the storm savaged South to the Northeastern Ohio area and is need of employment, please drop me an e-mail and I'll hook them up with Vickie.  Thank you and please feel free to forward this to anyone else who you think might know someone in need.

Vickie was telling me later that she thought maybe destiny was playing a hand in her trying to help.  I asked if she meant because of her networking skills.  She said, "yeah, but there is something else I just discovered.  It turns out that Kimberly went to Kent State University the same time as I did and we graduated the same year." 

Comments

[Joy Des Jardins]

What a beautiful thing Dave. It's nice to hear of something good coming from all the bad that has happened in the past days. Congratulations to Vickie...and you.

[Dave]

Thanks for your kind comment Joy!

[tommy]

Awesome stuff!!!

[Deb]

Yeah Dave.... the apple
did not fall far from the tree !!

[David St Lawrence]

Dave,
Thanks for the uplifting message. You have a right to be proud of your daughter.

Interesting how a disaster will bring out the best in good people, just as it brings out the worst in some others.

[Dave]

Tommy, Deb and David - Thanks for taking time to drop a line!