The devastation and sorrow of hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused the eBay Community to rally with aid to people in the affected areas (read An Outpouring of Help and Hope for Katrina Victims in the October issue of The Chatter). The eBay Foundation geared up to help as a responsible corporate citizen by making a $250,000 donation to the American Red Cross, matching employee donations, and reaching out directly to one thousand sellers in the affected areas.

But like others around the nation, many eBay employees wanted to do more. The opportunity came with a Want It Now post from Karen Ballard, a special education teacher in Alabama whose district added 120 children after Hurricane Katrina. Staying in shelters, at hotels, and with relatives, she wrote of their desperate need for school supplies, clothes, toys, and other essentials.

Led by eBay's Customer Support team in Salt Lake City, Utah, eBay employees quickly amassed these items and collected cash donations via PayPal from hundreds of employees from other eBay offices. In the last week of September, a team of employees, including VP, eBay Customer Support, Wendy Jones, set out with two 26-foot trucks filled with relief items ranging from school supplies and sleeping kits to computers and wheelchairs to distribute the goods. On their journey they were touched by the stories of hurricane survivors.

Wendy shares their experiences from the road…

Part I - September 28th, 2005

Austin, TX
We've logged approximately 1,800 miles over the last two days and made our first “official” stop in Austin, Texas earlier today. This was the day we were to drop one entire truckload off at the Austin Convention Center/Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is being used as the staging area for the Convention Center - so we met our contacts there and started unloading in 108 degree heat (but it was a dry heat so we didn't mind).

Our co-workers from the eBay Motors Austin office were kind enough to drop by and help us, so the extra set of 20 hands was really helpful. The Salvation Army officer told us that his entire team was out, half in New Orleans and the other half in downtown Austin giving out FEMA checks, so in true eBay spirit our coworkers offered to stay and pitch in for the afternoon. 

Since the Salvation Army center was only a staging area, we didn't see many of the victims our efforts would directly benefit, but there were a few families there. There was a little girl—probably about four—with her mother. They were from Lake Charles and had lost their house to Hurricane Rita. Tim Paine (from eBay's Salt Lake City office) gave this little girl one of the bags filled with toys and treats, and then proceeded to sit on the floor and play jacks with her for 30 minutes. It was truly one of the cutest things I have ever seen. There were two teenagers there with whom I spent some time. They loved their bags—filled with pillows, blankets, and eBay sweatshirts. When I offered them a bag of snacks they said they had enough food and asked us to share it with the others that hadn't. I was moved—these kids couldn't have been more than 11 or 12.

Baton Rouge, LA
We left Austin headed for Baton Rouge—about an eight hour drive. Once we were past Houston we got on Interstate 10, which passed directly through the towns devastated by Rita—Beaumont, Port Arthur and Lake Charles. You could get on the highway, but all the exits were blocked for more than a 150-mile stretch. Military vehicles, armed guards, and barricades made sure nobody was getting into these towns. It was dark out—so it was tough to see much, but what we did see was really tragic. Just before we entered this area we saw long gas lines (with no power at the stations other than the pumps) and evacuee camps bursting at the seams. There was no electricity for at least a hundred miles. We passed hundreds of trees that had fallen across the interstate that we could see had been cut back to clear the highway. Cars were abandoned everywhere and most street signs/billboards were completely torn apart. I can only imagine what we would have seen if we had made this part of the trip during daylight.

We were able to find rooms on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge—not an easy task, I assure you—thank goodness for our efficient administrative assistants back in the office. Tomorrow we do some stops locally, then head to Mississippi. We added a stop in Mississippi today—our eighth stop on this trip. We were saddened to learn that one of our Salt Lake City employees is from Pascagoula, MS and that her friends and family were hit particularly hard by Katrina. So we are stopping by with cash, food, and toys before we head to Alabama.

We have several school drops in Mobile tomorrow then head out to meet an eBay member with 14 displaced relatives living in their home. We have supplies, a wheelchair, and cash for them and plan to spend the evening throwing a BBQ for all of them. We are all looking forward to eat something other than fast food.

Part II – September 29th, 2005

Today was an exhausting day. Physically, we have been out on the road for more than 16 hours – and still have at least an hour drive before we get to our hotel. Emotionally, it was even more draining. We saw so much devastation first-hand and spent hours with people who have literally lost everything.    

We started the day in Baton Rouge, LA. Reports say that the population of this city has tripled in the last few weeks because of all the displaced victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We were on the LSU campus and saw makeshift classrooms and bathrooms set up in the parking lot of their football stadium to accommodate all the unexpected students. 

Our first drop was with the East Baton Rouge Parish school system. Their offices were located right across the street from FEMA's staging area for temporary housing. There were hundreds of trailers and small mobile homes sitting in fields. Workers were delivering them out to areas throughout Louisiana as quickly as possible, but we heard stories of poor communication and lack of coordination. They told us that they aren't even accepting clothing donations in most parishes of Louisiana because they have no way to get the items out to those in need. Others told us that many have resorted to simply dumping piles of clothes along the side of the road for those in need to sort through. This wasn't the case in Texas. We were comfortable that they had a solid system for redistributing donated clothing, which is why 100 percent of our employees' donations of clothing went there.

Mississippi and Mobile
We then drove to Mississippi and met the best friend of one of our employees from Salt Lake City. She had lost her house and had no flood insurance. She is now living in a one bedroom apartment with her husband, brother, seven-year-old son and dog. We had gone shopping earlier in the day and bought lots of food and clothing. When we spoke to her earlier in the week she had told us that her son's toy box had floated (yes, floated) so they had been able to salvage many of his toys. We decided that we could do more for her son, and picked up a Gameboy, 10 new game cartridges, a football and some Stars Wars "stuff" – hopefully that will bring a smile to his face. We also gave them some cash to get back on their feet. As we were leaving, we asked if there was anything else they needed. Her answer was so basic, it stung. "I need some socks." So we opened our bags and left a few pairs with her.

Our next stop was at a Lutheran school and church outside of Mobile, Alabama. When we arrived, the principal of the school greeted us with big hugs and a message—“We have been waiting for you!!!”  This was a very poor area and they were very appreciative of the items we brought them – including computers, office supplies, pillows, blankets, school supplies, and toys. A young boy was in the church so we gave him one of the toy packs – he was adorable as he opened them. Halfway through, he looked up at us and said, "This is just like Christmas."

We then spent the evening barbecuing for one of our members and their displaced relatives – all 14 of them. They are all living in a very small house that just weeks ago had flooded. Most had lost their homes and they showed us the few belongings they had managed to salvage. One couple, in their 70's, had crammed everything they possessed into the back of a mini van. It was still drying out. It smelled horrible from the mildew, but it was all they had. One man told us he had actually been pulled out of his flooded home by his nephew. 

Earlier in the week they were still looking for nine missing family members – and today they learned that eight of them are safe in San Antonio. So their spirits were high, and we were honored to have an opportunity to celebrate with them. Our host for the evening is still trying to locate his father, but told us many times that he knows he will find him and that he will be fine. 

They also invited some other relatives over to join us, including one couple who brought their two young children. We spoke to them for a while and learned that their son was turning four on Saturday, but they weren't telling him it was his birthday because they didn't have any money to do anything for him. We gave them some cash—hopefully it made the day a little brighter for him.

On a lighter note, one of the younger guys told us he loves to use eBay and is acting in a play. He needed a priest costume for the play, but couldn't find one – so we went online and he placed a bid on an eBay listing!

As we drove off, all of them were standing in their front yard chanting "eBay, eBay, eBay" over and over again. They were so grateful for our visit, but what they didn't realize was that we are the ones that should be grateful for having the opportunity to spend the evening with such an incredibly optimistic group of people who had every reason to have lost hope. 

Part III – September 30th, 2005

We started out Friday morning in Perdido Beach, Mississippi. This town sits close to the Florida border and was literally the closest hotel with a vacancy that we could find. That meant an extra hour's drive, each way, to get back on course. Our two final stops were planned for Friday.

Our first stop was in Butler, Alabama. A few dozen young children and their families had been relocated from Louisiana to this area and are starting to build their new lives in this town. We dropped off school supplies, computers, toys, and a donation from eBay Foundation.

Our second stop of the day–and final stop on our journey–was in Hoover, Alabama at the Board of Education for the Hoover City school district. This is where we finally met the woman who made the Want It Now post that started this whole effort. Her school system had taken in several families from Louisiana, and had also found permanent housing for several of them in a nearby apartment complex.

Two of these families included two women who had recently become mothers, both of them having delivered their babies in the past few weeks. In addition to a very generous donation from the eBay Foundation, we delivered beds, furniture, cribs, strollers, car seats, small household appliances, diapers, baby formula and clothes for the families. When we made the drop at the Board of Education, we were greeted unexpectedly by two local TV stations and a journalist from the local newspaper. After four days on the road, the last thing we wanted to do was to smile for the camera and talk to the press, but we realized that hopefully what we did would help inspire others to do the same, so we did our best.

Then we headed to the airport, as most of our team was flying back to Salt Lake City on Friday night. The rest of us headed home on Saturday. I can assure you we all spent the weekend getting some much-needed rest.

So many people joined in to make this effort a success, and I can assure you that it truly was just that. The looks on children's faces, the hugs from eBay Community members in need, and the heartfelt "Thank You and God Bless You" we heard repeatedly throughout our journey are memories that will stick with me forever. Our trip was incredibly emotional and was the most touching example of the tenacity of the human spirit that I have ever experienced.

An enormous amount of effort went into pulling this off, especially when you consider that all of it was coordinated in a little over a week. So many people participated in this effort. Hundreds of employees from our San Jose, Salt Lake City, Toronto, and Vancouver offices donated what has now grown to over $13,000. We added another $12,000-$15,000 from our Customer Support budget and $7,500 from the eBay Foundation. In addition, hundreds of people on the ground in Salt Lake City literally cleaned out their homes to provide enough school supplies, clothing, toiletries, toys and other items. More volunteers than I can name worked tirelessly to shop, pack and coordinate our journey. Thank you to all of you!