Times/News

For two weeks, volunteers in Burien donated and sorted goods for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Three full semi-trucks and 2,000 miles later, those supplies are in San Antonio, Texas, bringing evacuees a measure of much-needed relief.

"Did we really do this? Yes," said Steve Denmark, a Highline School Board member and an organizer of Burien's relief effort.

"Did it work out? Yes."

On Sept. 10, the first truck - carrying baby and toddler supplies - headed for Texas, followed on Sept. 11 by a second truck filled with men's clothing.

The final shipment on Sept. 13 was a mix of men's, women's and children's clothing and school supplies.

Burien Councilman Jack Block Jr. and Pastor Patrick Foutz, member of We Care Northwest, which was instrumental in the local relief effort, flew down to San Antonio to help unload the trucks. The plane tickets were bought with private and nonprofit agency funds.

Foutz decided to go to San Antonio after KIRO TV did a story stating that most of the collected items could be sent to a landfill.

People came to him with tears in their eyes, he said, thinking their hard work had been useless. At that point, he knew he had to go down to assure people their donations would be used.

"When the first truck was opened at Kelly [Air Force Base], there was a celebration - people were saying, 'Get that Burien stuff to the front of the line because it's sorted,'" Foutz added.

"Thank God we got the stuff there when we did," said Block.

Kelly Air Force Base initially took in 14,000 evacuees, but 11,000 of them have been placed in housing and many of them have found jobs.

Three thousand people still remain on the base, said Block.

"San Antonio was really generous in trying to find jobs and accommodate them," he said.

Most of the evacuees at the Kelly center came from New Orleans. It took 88 commercial airline flights and 50 busloads to get all of them there.

Block said relief workers at the base have done what they can to make these people comfortable.

There are three sleeping areas set up with cots. Breakfast is served every morning. And a cleaning service comes through every morning to wash clothes.

Because evacuees are coming and going, the cleaning service for clothes can be unreliable. When a person needs new clothes, they usually go to a clothing bank with donations from the Salvation Army and Burien, Block said.

"I am so impressed with the city of San Antonio," he said.

However, the pain of the past few weeks remains with the people who are far from their homes.

"They're still kind of shell shocked and the kids are traumatized. Even the older ones are acting like three or four year olds. They're real shy and quiet," Block added.

While most the supplies went to help people relocated to San Antonio, the hurricane relief center set up in Burien's old Gottschalk's building also helped evacuees that have relocated to this region.

"[Several] families went through the hurricane center for shopping," said Cindy Leeson, a volunteer.

Patricia Harrison came from Fort Lewis, where she and her husband are staying with their son after evacuating from New Orleans.

Adjusting to the rainy and cold weather of the Northwest, Harrison picked warm colorful sweaters, long skirts, and boots while shopping in the Gottschalk's building.

Harrison and her husband lived in east New Orleans near the levee that broke along the 17th Street Ward.

They stayed in their home when the storm hit, but when water started to rise inside they left for a dryer location.

When boats started to arrive, they were picked up and taken to safety. Buses then transported her and her husband along with 2,000 other people to Baton Rouge.

After her son sent tickets, they flew out to Tacoma.

"I am old dog and this is one new trick that I never want to experience again," said Harrison. "I imagine my house and the things floating in it. And it just makes me sad.

"You just have to trust God and continue to move on."