To donate items or to register for them, contact the local Catholic Charities office in any of the locations affected by the hurricanes or states which have taken in evacuees. I work with Catholic Charities in Little Rock Arkansas, and we are working with all the hurricane evacuees in our area. If you are an evacuee we may be able to help, and if you have a contribution we would welcome it! See http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/news/katrina/agencies.cfm for more information.

Why do some people feel the need to bring the "color issue" into everything they do and say? These hurricanes did NOT select the color of the people they left homeless. President Bush did NOT cause the hurricanes. He did NOT choose which homes the hurricanes destroyed. I guess in times of tragedy someone must be blamed but why does it often involve the "color issue". I don't see colors when I pray for these hurrican victims or donate to their needs. I see human beings....God's people...our brothers and sisters.

I am proud to say that I am the Principal of Freedom High School and get to work on a daily basis with such great kids and teachers. This project was really a labor of love involving our student body, staff, community members and people from surrounding communities. This will be an experience that will be a lasting memory for everyone.

These messages brought tears to my husbands eyes and mine as we are Ally Wadel grandparents and we know what a kind and caring girl she is. I pray this will change her life is countless ways. Mostly I pray she'll always reach out to others and make her life count.

I am one of those students in the picture. I would first like to say how proud I am of all the students and staff that joined me on the trip. Second I would like to thank everyone who donated to us to help make this trip possible. There is still plenty that can be done for the people of Lakeshore and the surrounding areas. It is wonderful to see all the comments that have been made about us. Lastly, I would like to send a personal Thank You to Pam Lackey and Greg London. If the world was filled with people like you, we would all be in great shape.

Our son, Bob, was one of the teachers at Freedom High School who helped organize the effort and returned with the students at 7:00 this morning (after a drive through the night). It was very touching to see the "welcome home" message of gratitude from the citizens of North Grand Forks, Minnesota -- the people that this same caring high school reached out to after the devastating floods of 1997. We are extremely proud of teachers who change lives both IN and OUTSIDE the classroom. Lessons learned in Mississippi and Grand Forks will last a lifetime. Merry Christmas and God bless.

I'm proud to be a parent of Brennan, a student from Freedom that volunteered to help with this endeavor. The students, staff, families and community are to be commended for their generosity in donations (279 Christmas presents) and a truckload of supplies and food. This was a great opportunity for the kids, and one they will remember for a lifetime. Thank you to the staff for allowing the kids the opportunity to help those that have lost so much. We're proud and honored to have you all!!!!

thank you Dannette i belive this will teach your students more than they could learn in a classroom...about future life and i'm positive motivate them to be better people

I am one of the students in the picture. I would like to say thank you to everybody who supported us this whole time. Also, thanks for the companies and people that donated supplies and gifts to make this possible! This trip taught us a lot and it was an awesome experience

Hey I'm one of those 24 students that went down to help with the Operation FHS(Hurricane Relief in Mississippi.) I would personally want to thank all of the teachers and supporters(moms/dads, and everyone else) for helping us along all this way. The things that you saw on t.v. do not compare to what you see in real life. This trip made some changes in my life. I would also like to thank my fellow peers for making this trip such an awesome time. The people down in Mississippi had to be some of the most generous people that i got to know. There is still some stuff that needs to be finished there(waveland and other places in mississippi), but if it werent for the kindness of people we have in this country...it would still be a disaster. godbless...

We are also parents of one of the students that made the trip from Freedom to Lakeshore, MS. We are very proud of our daughter and all the others that went with her. We thank Freedom High School for allowing such a trip to take place. We also would like to thank all the people that donated to this great cause. We heard a lot of stories about Pam Lackey, you are doing a wonderful thing.

To all the KIDS - TEACHERS - PARENTS - AND EVERYONE putting this together. I hope you are blessed in ways beyond your dreams. You all seem so great and it is so nice to hear about people with a good heart.
THANKS TO YOU ALL!

I am also one of the 24 students who went down to help. All I can say is wow, the sight of everything is just devastating. I dont know how people down they are so nice. The people are just ready and eager to help and really dont seem like they worry about themselves at all; they put others first which is great and amazing. The whole experience was definitely life-changing and I will never forget the things that I saw.

What a wonderful way to keep Christmas in the hearts of our children. Are there plans to host a similar event in 2006? If so, I would love to be involved. I live in California, but can use my extra vacations days lend a helping hand. Please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you.