Remembering Katrina

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It's hard to believe it's been five years. I trend to mark the calendar each year, and have since my wife Kim and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in a Mash-style restaurant build as part of the relief effort at Pass Christian. It was like being in a war zone. Boats and cars in trees. Houses blocks from where their foundations were. A bank vault alone, without a bank. It was a life changing experience. This was a 10 days reality check and we all changed. One can't go through something like this and not be changed...if you have any feelings for others. I owe this life experience to Laren Gartner, President of Cheeseburger Restaurants. She is responsible for inspiring many hundreds of people and leads with a aggressive inspiration. She gives. She leads. But when leading and giving wasn't enough, she took action. Lauren assembled managers and restaurant executives and loaded up RV's and bought thousands of dollars in food. Coordinated this effort from her team from the wast and the west all converging in Pass Christian, Mississippi.

We drove for days, then cooked and cleaned and camped in a environmentally devastated community. We fed over 20,000 meals to first responders, the National Guard, homeowners, and became the place to centralize. We cokes breakfast, lunch of Cheeseburgers and French fries. We served Cokes and coffee and candy to kids. It was so personally satisfying that I appreciate those who do this for others.

My anniversary is next month and we will remember our vows, our commitment to each other as well as those we befriended at Katrina.