For the Children

In the days following the Katrina disaster, ten-year-old Miramichier, Ashley Demeau, and her mother, Tina, watched the news on television of Louisiana families losing everything and being relocated to shelters in other states.

Like everyone who saw this devastation unfold on CNN, Ashley was quite upset and she told her mother she wanted to do something to help. Her mother vowed to do anything she could to help her daughter take action and asked Ashley what she would like to receive, if she were a victim living in a shelter.

Raised with the spirit of giving to the less fortunate through family traditions like filling shoeboxes for six children every Christmas season, Ashley wanted to do something special for the children.

"Toys," Ashley replied and the Demeau family began the mission of collecting donations of new toys to send to the displaced children of New Orleans.

After only a few days Ashley collected two big boxes of toys while Tina searched for the best place to send them and the most efficient way to get them there.

Early in September the toys were shipped to the Astrodome in Houston.

"It is only a drop in the bucket compared to what those people need," Tina said. "I am so proud of my daughter!"

Now, over three months after the disaster, the people of Louisiana continue to pick up the pieces. A ten-year-old girl followed her spirit and put a smile on the faces of some children she's never met. What will you do to make a difference?