With all the "finger pointing", excuses and bad-mouthing, this touched my
heart ...
Message
Why doesn't it surprise me that good news stories like this are near the
back of the newspapers?
Publication: American Press; Date:2005 Sep 07; Section:Metro-State;
Page Number: C1
Evacuee bus breakdown leads to overwhelming show of charity
BY JAMIE GATES AMERICAN PRESS
When he got the call, independent bus driver Chris Vassas drove
immediately from his home in Palm Bay, Fla., to help shuttle Hurricane
Katrina evacuees to the Astrodome in Houston. What he didn't bargain for was
the overwhelming kindness shown along the way by residents in Morgan City,
which itself suffered a great deal of storm damage.
Vassas arrived at 1 a.m. Wednesday in LaPlace, where he was given
directions to the Superdome. Evacuees were loaded and driven straight to the
Astrodome. Then he drove back to New Orleans and, on Friday morning,
shuttled a load of evacuees to Dallas.
On his last trip from the Superdome, bound for Houston once again,
he was routed on U.S. 90.
His bus broke down in Morgan City.
Vassas found a car repair shop that happened to be open. The owner
agreed to fix his bus.
While Vassas and his passengers were waiting, a pickup truck pulled
up with two coolers of Gatorade and a third cooler of water.
People got off the bus to cool off with a free drink.
Within a few minutes, another truck pulled up with chicken
jambalaya, hot dogs and spaghetti and meatballs. Free.
"As everyone stood there eating, they were told that they could go
over to the store and pick up any clothing items they needed," Vassas said.
Evacuees were able to get tennis shoes, hats and T-shirts. Free.
The Morgan City Church of Christ showed up with more clothes. Still
more people in Morgan City "started appearing from everywhere" with items to
donate, Vassas said.
One woman asked if there were babies on the bus. Vassas told her
there were.
"Hang on, you can't leave until I come back with baby formula,"
she
told him, and drove off to find it.
"She came back with absolutely everything, including diapers,"
Vassas said. "When I got back on the bus, my passengers wanted for
absolutely nothing - and the residents gave another 50 meals to take with
me."
The Morgan City Police Department told Vassas he couldn't go
anywhere until he had everything.
"I was there 2 1/2 hours," he said. "I make no qualms about it -
I
was standing there with tears in my eyes. It was fantastic."
Meanwhile, the bus repair took 45 minutes. Free.
Back on the road again, a little girl asked Vassas, "Driver, would
you like something to eat?"
Vassas said he was so overwhelmed by the generosity by a young
child who had been through so much in New Orleans, he called his brother in
Tampa and asked that they "adopt" the family.
Vassas said his brother agreed. They agreed to help support the
family, which has since relocated to Dallas.
"My brother has already called my up to let me know that he's heard
from the mother expressing her appreciation," he said.
Vassas told his story to the American Press on Tuesday morning
while standing in a huge parking area at Chennault International Airport,
where hundreds of buses are gathered to await their next dispatch.
"There are no heroes," Vassas said. "We're all the same. As
long as
this country ever wakes up to that, maybe things will get better.
Everybody's working hard.
"And they're not refugees. They're hurricane survivors."