St. Mary's Residents to the Rescue

A local relief effort is being established to help the victims of hurricane Katrina

By Adam Bednar

ST.  MARY’S TODAY

LEXINGTON PARK – The flooding waters of Hurricane Katrina destroyed Dean and Henry Oliver’s home in Diberville, Miss.

It didn’t destroy the bond that has held their marriage together for 52 years.

The Oliver’s are spending their 52^nd wedding anniversary in St. Mary’s County with their daughter Janine Durkin. Displaced by the wrath of one of the most devastating natural disasters to ever hit North America the Olivers are beginning to cope with the loss of all their worldly goods.  

“We’re going to go on, life goes on” Dean said. “We did it through Camille 30 some years ago and our children were little.”

Now in Southern Maryland the Oliver’s said they have been made to feel right at home.

Sitting in the offices of Technology Security Associates, Inc. on Shangri-La Drive, the Olivers, Dean, Henry and daughter Julie, witnessed St. Mary’s County come together to extend a helping hand to the people of Mississippi struggling to rebuild their lives.

Joe St. Clair and Donald Cropp were watching the images of destruction and despair on television when they decided they wanted to help. They didn’t want to help by giving money, they wanted tangible evidence that their efforts didn’t go to a charities back pocket.

So with the support of several members of the St. Mary's Chamber of Commerce, St. Mary’s Parish and local government they’ve formed the St. Mary’s County Hurricane Relief Fund. The fund will be managed locally, and St. Clair and Cropp promise to follow any and all supplies being sent to the region to make sure they are properly distributed.

“You can count on us to spend your money right,” Cropp said.

During the initial meeting of fund participants Monday night the assembled group of politicians, business people and volunteers hammered out the group’s focus. The initial focus of the fund will be gathering and delivering school supplies to Biloxi, Miss.

St. Clair said that they have been in touch with Biloxi’s mayor who he said is bound and determined to have schools open by October. St. Clair said they have been informed what is needed right now is school supplies to help get kids back in the classroom.

However, once the school supplies are shipped the fund will not fade away and forget what it started. St. Clair and Cropp said the fund will shift its focus to whatever is needed in the community over the long haul.

When the holidays come around the fund will concentrate on providing things for the holidays. When its time to rebuild they will provide supplies to rebuild, they said.

Tom Jarboe, CEO of TSA, Inc., is using his company’s office as a command center for the fund. Ironically the fund is operating out of a contingency operating center that TSA, Inc. had set aside for a military client in case of a terrorist attack.

Jarboe has also established a Web site for the fund at www.smc-hurricane-relief-fund.org and they are providing a phone line at 301-866-0295 extension 400 so that anyone interested in donating to the fund can get a hold someone involved.

The group is meeting again at the TSA, Inc. offices next Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

Even the Olivers, who have been left homeless by the storm and uprooted from the place they have called home all of their lives, are helping in the relief efforts. By the end of the meeting Henry Oliver was helping establish contacts with people in Mississippi to help coordinate the relief effort.

“We know we’re one family with many helpers. Down there, there are one or two helpers for thousands of families.” Henry said.