Private citizens offering public relief in Miss.

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2005 | by Dennis Cauchon

BILOXI, Miss. -- The six men from Combine, Texas, pulled into this hurricane-ravaged town at dawn Monday, unsure where to go.

They had driven all night in two pickups, one pulling a 36-foot cattle trailer that carried the kindness of their small town (pop. 2,000) near Dallas -- donations for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"We were having coffee at the only store in town and decided we had to do something," says Carl Bell, a retired utility company worker. They put up a sign in front of the store and by 10 p.m. Sunday, when they left, had a trailer load of donations: diapers, bleach, underwear and other supplies.

The men from Combine arrived in Biloxi after a nine-hour drive and found a Red Cross station. However, the place was so full of relief supplies,...