CONVOY TO KILN, MISSISSIPPI

I found this article in one of the local papers about a couple from Elkhorn, WI...which isn't too far from where I am...who got enough people to donate enough food and clothing for the evacuees that they were able to fill four semis.
Here's their story. By the way, that's pronuonced Kill not kiln like the oven for pottery.

Elkhorn residents ship four truckloads to Mississippi (Published Thursday, September 8, 2005 11:11:44 AM CDT) By Sue Yanny Gazette Staff ELKHORN -- Jeff and Stacy Whiteman of Elkhorn hoped to collect enough food, water and clothing for Hurricane Katrina survivors to fill two large trucks. They were astonished when they filled four trucks. "Within two days, we collected 20 tons of food, water and clothing, which filled up four trucks," Stacy said. Jeff manages a group of investors in restaurants, including Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. He spoke with Brett last week after Brett talked with his wife, Deanna, at their home about an hour north of Kiln, Miss. About 50 people who had been displaced by the hurricane were staying at Brett and Deanna's home, but they had little to drink or eat, Stacy said. Deanna had driven around looking for water and food-and found nothing, she said. Brett had a plane fly down with supplies last week for Deanna and their children and the others who were staying at their home, she said. After hearing about the plight of the people in Mississippi through Deanna's accounts to Brett, Jeff and Stacy's hearts went out to them. "Jeff and I were completely beside ourselves," Stacy said. "We were saddened and worried." Jeff and Stacy called people to ask them to donate food, water and clothing so they could take it to Mississippi. They sent e-mails. They went on the radio. The response was overwhelming. Businesses, churches and people from Walworth County and elsewhere brought boxes and bags of supplies to Jeff and Stacy's home and to the Edward Jones investment firm in Elkhorn that Stacy manages. Two women from Burlington told Stacy they couldn't afford to buy anything for the people in Mississippi, but they wanted to donate their time instead. They spent several hours helping pack boxes. A group left for Mississippi in two trucks on Friday evening. Jeff, Stacy and their friend, Brian Kennedy, drove one truck. Stacy's assistant, Kathy Follett, and Kathy's husband, Mark, drove another truck. Jeff, Stacy, Brian, Kathy and Mark arrived at Brett and Deanna's home on Saturday evening. They then drove on to a distribution center in Kiln with law enforcement officials escorting them. Stacy said she couldn't see much in the dark, but what she saw was haunting. "I saw homes flattened, cars in .ditches and downed lines and downed trees everywhere," she said. Officials at the distribution center told Jeff, Stacy and their friends that their trucks with supplies were the first ones that had arrived in Kiln since the hurricane hit. They said they would distribute the items in the morning to survivors who desperately needed them. Deanna and a friend of hers cried when the officials opened the backs of the trucks and saw the supplies. Jeff and Stacy and their friends spent Saturday night at Brett and Deanna's home, where families slept in every room in the house. They headed back to Elkhorn on Sunday morning. The two other trucks-driven by Jeff and Stacy's friends, David Tracy and Ron Ricco-arrived at Brett and Deanna's home on Sunday afternoon and, like the first two trucks, went on to the distribution center in Kiln. Stacy said she and Jeff and their friends brought the supplies to Mississippi because "people needed help." "The people just don't have anything," she said, her voice breaking over the phone. "It's scary and frustrating that these people are living so poorly."