Like so many people, my husband and I watched the news of Katrina's devastation non-stop, yet still couldn't even begin to comprehend what all those people must have gone through. And like so many people, I felt a great urge to help in some way.

It took me about 14 hours to create Hope from start to finish...
But 14 hours is nothing compared to the amount of the time so many people sat on their roofs without water or food, wondering if they would be rescued in time...
while others searched desperately for loved ones, not knowing if they were still alive.

It took me about 5 minutes to realize that I had to donate Hope to the Katrina charity...
That is the same amount of time that thousands of people lost every possession they had.

When the thought first entered my mind to donate Hope to the Katrina charity, I quickly tried to push it out of my mind. I had just put the finishing touches on her, and donating her seemed like such a hard thing to do!

But then I heard the story about the little boy who had just lost his entire home and nearly everything he owned, but went up to one of the rescuers to donate one of his remaining few possessions - a jar of pennies. He said he didn't want to give his name, he just wanted to give his money to help others "because he loves Jesus"...and this is just one story of thousands! Donating Hope didn't seem so hard anymore.