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'Good Morning America' Joins in Rebuilding Effort in Pass Christian, Miss.

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

By Tracy Dash, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Sep. 28--PASS CHRISTIAN -- "Good Morning America" viewers usually find Robin Roberts sitting behind the anchor desk on the popular ABC show.

This week, though, Roberts is broadcasting from her hometown of Pass Christian, lending a hand in the rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina destroyed virtually everything in its path.

Roberts, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with the words "Rebuilding the Pass with Pride," helped clear debris from Seal Avenue on Tuesday and unloaded thousands of items from two 18-wheelers. The trucks were packed with $250,000 worth of donated and purchased supplies.

Box fans, shovels, brooms and other items that will be used to rebuild the city's infrastructure were inside. The supplies will be stored at a building on Pine Street that also serves as a temporary fire station.

"Good Morning America" partnered with the Salvation Army, Home Depot, Staples and the Corporation for National and Community Service, which runs AmeriCorps. The ABC morning show last Wednesday kicked off the fund-raising effort "GMA Gets it Done," but Roberts refuses to take credit for the city's progress.

"I'm really proud of what they're doing. The local officials and local volunteers laid the groundwork," she said, adding that the show is simply helping out. "They're saving themselves."

The heat and humidly didn't seem to bother Roberts, who grew up in the Pass and still has family in the area. This week's visit is her third to South Mississippi since Katrina, and she says it won't be her last.

"This is just the beginning," she said.

GMA producer Sarah Ruth said a representative from the Salvation Army will be stationed in Pass Christian for the next year and Roberts will routinely visit for updates on the city's progress.

Roberts and the GMA crew will be in town until this evening.

Only one of Pass Christian's four schools still stands. One of the goals of the effort is to get DeLisle Elementary up and running in two weeks, Ruth said. The supplies donated by Staples will help rebuild the schools.

Ruth said GMA asked the community what it needed. The city gave them a list, and the show asked corporations for help.

New Yorkers stop Roberts on the streets of Manhattan, she said, asking how they can help. She said their compassion comes from experiencing the devastation from the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Malcolm Jones, the city's chief administrative officer, was worried that little towns like Pass Christian would be overlooked when it comes to fund-raising efforts, especially since New Orleans, Gulfport and Biloxi are bigger cities.

"We lost 100 percent of our downtown," Jones said. "We have no sales tax base."

Jones said the destruction of Wal-Mart will hit the city hard because it supplied about $1 million of the city's annual budget, which is between $6 million and $7 million.

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To see more of The Sun Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sunherald.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.)

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