Darrell Vaden is an employee of Justin Avey. He and his wife Cathy and Chuck Fryer took the first truckload of relief help on 9/1. This is Cathy's report

Last Thursday my husband and I were going to a family reunion in Arkansas when we heard some of our family in Mississippi needed help. Katrina had hit their community hard. Huge trees were uprooted, and many people had trees in their homes, or on top of their cars. Roofs were torn off, and buildings had collapsed. They had no electric, no water, and were running out of food. They had no fuel to run generators, and were unable to get to town for help. We were heading that way, and thought we'd drive the 4 or 5 extra hours to take a load of supplies to the family. By the Grace of God and very generous donations, in a few hours the plan was to take 2 trucks filled with supplies to this little place called Tylertown, Mississippi. Tylertown is located 90 miles due north of New Orleans, with a population of 1,900 people.

 We left Thursday night. In one truck we had 6,000 pounds of bottled water. The other truck was a 26’ foot cube van filled with food, juices, medical supplies, toiletries, and one of the most important things…200 gallons of fuel.

 When we drove thru Memphis Tennessee, we were told we’d better fuel up there, because there was huge fuel shortages the farther south you went. They told us to carry enough fuel to get to our destination, and then back to Memphis. True to their words, the farther south we went, we saw most gas stations had no fuel. The few stations that had fuel there were lines of cars 2 to 3 miles long, and those people could only get $10 to $20 dollars worth, even after waiting in lines for 6 –8 hours. We also saw people standing in longs lines carrying their gas cans, hoping the fuel lasted until they got there.

 We traveled I55 South , and about 100 miles north of Tylertown we saw the beginning of the destruction of what was yet to come. An occasional tree down, and a twisted sign here and there. It was at that point we noticed the only other people on I 55 South were people going down to help in the disaster relief. We saw convoys of Army vehicles, National Guardsmen, companies with 25-30 trucks, from tree trimming outfits to electrical companies. We saw regular people too hauling mattresses, food, water, fuel, and a variety of other things to help our Southern States in their time of need.

 The devastation we saw when we arrived in Tylertown is almost indescribable. It looked to us like a bomb had torn apart this little quiet community. There were trees down everywhere, and power lines lying across the roads. People were milling about, looking like they didn't know what to do next. FEMA had arrived just that morning. They set up a disaster relief station at a church right downtown. Anybody who could get there was offered a hot meal and a care package to take home. We quickly found out that there were 5 or 6 rural communities in the county that had no means of getting to FEMA. So we took our supplies to a church about 5 miles out of town. Union Baptist Church had agreed to receive the supplies and distribute them to 5 other outlying churches, who were all willing to get these things to the needy people in their area.

 When we arrived at the church, there were 40 or so people waiting to help us off load our trucks. The joy and relief in their eyes isn't something we'll ever forget. They gave us hugs and their undying gratitude for helping them in their time of despair. Two hours later those people of Tylertown had the vehicles unloaded. They spent the rest of the night taking inventory on all we had brought, and packaging it up to deliver the next morning.

 We spoke to our relatives today, and were thrilled to hear our supplies had helped over 700 people. People were able to fuel their generators, and now run a fan in the sweltering heat. For some it was the first bottled water or food they had received. To them it was the beginning of a long slow healing process. Unfortunately, 3 days after receiving those supplies, they are already running out.

 I'm also amazed at their selflessness. When I said how shocked I was at the destruction in their town, they said to me “Our town is a mess, but these other towns are destroyed. There is nothing left, and they’ve gotten no help at all”. Even though Tylertown is running out of supplies, they are worried about the towns nearby.

 A lot of these towns aren’t going to have their power turned on for 3 or 4 months. The businesses can’t open, meaning no food or fuel until they do. Most of them can’t get to work. I spoke to a nurse there who worked at the hospital for the first 3 or 4 days after Katrina hit, then she ran out of fuel and couldn’t get there anymore. A story repeated throughout these communities.

 I pray we can continue to help these people. I am humbled by their strength and grace. I don’t want to stop until this town is on their feet again. I know this horrific tragedy has encompassed 4 states, but I feel we can all help, even if it's one town at a time.

Cathy Vaden