My home is in a coastal area, much like many of these homes were. I live in Virginia Beach, and it\'s less than a 10 minute drive to the Oceanfront from my home. When Hurricane Katrina and Rita hit, I found myself spending a great deal of time thinking about what it would be like if this was my home, if these were my friends lost, if this was the way the government treated my home town; the place I grew up, the place I loved. I\'m lucky to say I didn\'t lose a friend, a family member, or my entire neighborhood to these storms. However, most are not so lucky. And what I did lose was my trust in our government to react to these tragedies. While I understand the extreme devestation and how hard it was and still is to get to certain areas, there are just so many stories I have heard of the horrors AFTER the storm when these people needed their governments protection the most. It\'s almost impossible to imagine that this could happen and continues to happen in the United States. I\'m proud to praise my former high school class, who helped raise over $5,000 from students in our school. In the long run, it is not much, but it is great to think that a group of children can raise this amount and shows what any group, town, or country can do when they set their minds to it. I am also excited to be traveling this May down to the New Orleans area to help with the continued relief effort. My main purpose of this post is just to encourage anyone reading it to get out and make a difference in any way you can. There are still thousands of people without a place to call home. I challenge you to imagine this happening in your home town, to your friends and families, and imagine how you would feel.