I read an email at work on Friday that got me to thinking. The minute I read it, my interest was piqued. It felt like an opportunity. I could just about hear it knocking. But I mainly kept my interest to myself besides briefly mentioning it to Diane. But I mulled and mulled. And finally this morning at the manager meeting, I told my manager that I was interested.

Interested in what, you say. Well, our DM was asking for help for the DM that covers the Gulf Coast. They need management staff to go down and help two of the stores down there that were hit hard by the hurricanes. One is in Metairie,LA and the other is in Gulfport,MS. So for 4 days in April I'll be going down there. When I said I was interested, our cafe manager,Julie, said she'd been thinking about it as well and wanted to put her name in. So, not only will I go down there but I'll have someone with me that I know, which is a nice thing.

The stores will basically need a lot of grunt work of setting up the shelves and everything. Pretty much like opening a new store. And if one of the stores are open they'll also need help with hiring/staffing. Not all of the people who worked at the stores live there now. Sad but true.

Ever since Katrina happened I've been wanting to do something more than just give money. I wanted to do something constructive. And this is it. My opportunity. A chance to give back. And I haven't done something this big for quite a while. This is almost like going into the unknown for me. I haven't done that since I drove to Canada for somebody I'd never met in person. It's a risk. But worth it. So, while I'll be doing something for others (getting the community back towards a sense of normalcy plus giving jobs to people) I'll doing even more for me. I'm so excited. And I just can't hide it.

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