The horrible images we’ve seen during the past week-and-a-half are indelibly stamped on our memories.

Bodies floating in the flooded streets. Entire communities leveled by a record storm surge.

Mothers carrying babies through waist-deep water. Rescue workers pulling people from rooftops.

Hundreds of miles away, we’ve been safely and happily living our lives in Shelby County with no more inconvenience than a lack of power.

We’ve watched, helplessly, while thousands of our fellow Americans have suffered much, much more than we could have ever dreamed … suffering we never thought we’d see on American soil.

Many of us have prayed and searched for some way, any way, we can help.

All the while, our area was filling up with those who managed to get away from the storm and its aftermath. And they’re still coming.

These people have little or nothing other than the clothes they are wearing. The only thing they do have, for sure, is a deep sense of loss – loss of a home, loss of loved ones, loss of memories and possibly worst of all, loss of hope.

Our desire to help in some way is strong.

And now we have that opportunity. We can help.

We encourage you to do what you can, visit a hotel, visit a shelter. Ask what you can do and then do it. These displaced Americans are all around us and they need us … now, today.

To whom much is given, much is expected. As the most wealthy county in the state, we must not stand by selfishly, thinking only of ourselves. We must do what is right