Wanda Blanton looked out into her backyard at the huge limb broken over her neighbor's fence and wondered, “What am I going to do? My deductible is too high to cover this, and I don't have the money to have it removed.”
Hurricane Gustav had just stormed through the day before, the most powerful hurricane since Betsy in 1965 to hit Baton Rouge. Unfortunately, the population had nearly doubled and Gustav did considerable more damage.
Wanda and her husband had already survived ground zero of the worst hurricane disaster ever in the United States, Katrina. Living in the New Orleans 9 th Ward, they had lost everything, their rental property, two businesses, and their home. Stunned, they made some hard decisions and decided to move permanently to Baton Rouge. February of 2006, they bought a modest, well kept house, on Charlotte Dr. Sadly the stress of their ordeal was too much for Wanda's husband. Two weeks later he died. With her son, Michael, deployed in Iraq, Wanda was left alone.
As she worried how she could cope with yet this newest challenge, someone knocked at the door. When she opened it, there stood an assessment crew from Mormon Helping Hands. Wanda explained the members they had expected to find had been the previous owners. Undaunted they asked, “Do you need any help?”
The next day, a crew of 11 from Gonzales Ward, Baton Rouge Louisiana Stake, showed up at Wanda's door. The actual work took less than twenty minutes, but Wanda was so touched, she asked if she could come help the next day. Sunday morning, Wanda donned a bright, yellow ‘Mormon Helping Hands' T shirt and was ready to go. After a brief Sacrament service, she had the opportunity to meet and speak with Randy Bluth, President of the Baton Rouge Stake and Elder Robert C. Gay, Area Seventy.
Joining a crew from Vidor, Texas (Williamson 3 rd Ward, Orange, Texas Stake,) Wanda instantly fit in. Melissa Moore and Monica Jarrell, two other women in the crew, embraced Wanda wholeheartedly. “She's such a joy and a real hard worker,” Melissa said. Indeed, as were all the crew, judging by the trees they had cleared from houses and grounds for grateful homeowners that day.
When it was time to leave after about seven hours of arduous labor in blistering heat, the smile on Wanda's face was genuine, “Can I have your number so I can come and help again next week?”
