AND MORE…
I didn’t grow up in North Carolina, but I’ve been here long enough to consider it home. It’s where I graduated, got married and started a family. When my family and I moved to North Carolina, it was only a year before we had to endure Hurricane Hugo and being a California girl, this wasn’t something I was used to. But since I was still in school, this meant school was out, {yeah!} it meant you had free time, and if you were lucky enough to have friends live nearby, it meant hanging out together. But as an adult they are less appealing as they once where. The prep, the waiting, and the clean up are brutal. Not only emotionally, but also physically. Anxious is what I felt this past weekend.
Thankfully my family came out the other side of this hurricane with minimal damage and no loss of power. Which is a complete miracle. However, both Carolina’s are under water. As of today 18 lives have been lost. I heard a story this morning where a 1 year old was swept away. My heart breaks. Florence was not nice to the East coast, and the repairs will be long, difficult, and devastating to many.
When I started to write this post last night, I originally wanted to give you a list of places you could send a donation in order to help those affected by the hurricane, but then I started thinking…. what more can we do? How can we make a difference. Every.Single.Day. In addition to sending donations in, what if today you decided to be purposeful and make a difference in someone’s life. What about to a complete stranger? What about being an encouragement to your neighbor? Do you even know your neighbor? Ok, what about the one three doors down? I have been BLOWN away (no pun intended) by how this storm has quite literally brought neighborhoods and complete strangers together.
I’d like to leave you with this. I’d like to encourage you to be a light to those around you. If you are the only reason they smiled today, you’ve made a difference.
If you would like to give, Michael Jordan, who owns the Charlotte Hornets and grew up in Wilmington, which was hit hard by the storm, set up a microsite to direct donations to reputable organizations.
In addition, head coach Ron Rivera explains how the Panthers are helping with hurricane relief.
