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More than a year after Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast, Annalisa Smith and her fiancé Sam Robinson know that residents near their hometown of Vancleave, Mississippi, are still suffering. In Gaston Point, a historically African-American community near Gulfport, they know there are senior citizens living on their own who need help.
Annalisa and Sam enlist the help of three local elementary school teachers to go door to door in Gaston Point to find out what their neighbors need to make them more comfortable. The residents need items like furniture, a microwave and a recliner. One elderly gentleman asks for neckties, handkerchiefs, cuff links and cologne. One of his neighbors asks for a heating blanket, dinner plates and flatware. Annalisa and Sam buy all the items plus gifts cards for those who did not have a preference. They go to each home to deliver their gifts to the grateful residents. And as an added surprise, Annalisa and Sam give each teacher who helped a $90 spa gift certificate!
"Giving is contagious, Oprah, and because of that I'm sure that you know the people that we're giving to today, they will turn around and actually give to someone else," Sam says.
"It definitely filled our hearts with joy," Annalisa says. "If I could quit my job and give daily, I would."
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