In the month of April 2009 in the towns of Midwest City and Choctaw, Oklahoma, a severe fire occurred that destroyed an estimated 70 homes. Many families lost everything they possessed, also things that are irreplaceable. The investigators said that the fire was intentional but the starters didn’t mean for it to spread as wide as it did. Due to the loss of many homes, shelters and places for donations to be collected were set up for the ones in need. The Red Cross set up a drop-off location at a car dealership across from the Tinker Airport.

My mother went out and bought over 100 dollars worth of toiletries for the victims as well as things to keep the young children entertained. I, on the other hand, felt that the families needed more than just these small things. They had lost everything; they needed clothes. I had cleared out my closet of items I no longer wore, and my mother and I took our donations to the drop-off. When we arrived there was a large semi-truck full of bags of things for the families, as well as furniture. Donating these items made us feel so good about ourselves.

To this day, I no longer see a point in holding onto something that someone in need could make more use out of than I could, or every now and then I feel that 100 dollars could go a long way to help someone in need. Even though these things cannot replace the things the families lost in the fire, I hope that it filled a spot in their hearts as it did in mine to know that there will always be that one person out in the world that cares about others more than themselves to take the time and effort to just give!

Melissa
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