KOMO 4 News takes on Oprah's Big Give

Share

By KOMO Staff

Summary

Oprah launched the Big Give last Sunday and challenged people all over the country to help total strangers. KOMO 4 News is partnering up with Oprah to help victims of the December floods, and you can be a part of it all.

Story Published: Mar 7, 2008 at 12:57 AM PDT

Story Updated: Mar 10, 2008 at 9:31 AM PDT

KOMO 4 News takes on Oprah's Big Give
SEATTLE -- Oprah Winfrey is teaming up with the KOMO 4 News Problem Solvers.

Together, we're taking Oprah's Big Give to those who need help in Western Washington.

Oprah launched the Big Give last Sunday and challenged people all over the country to help total strangers and celebrate giving back to communities.

KOMO 4 News is partnering up with Oprah to help victims of the December floods, and you can be a part of it all.

But first, it's hard to understand how many still need our help until you go to the flood zone. That's what we did in order to meet the people still fighting to put their lives back together.

The December floods left behind quite a mess. Cities were underwater. Interstate 5 was shut down. Bridges were washed out. Power lines had toppled. Trees had snapped.

During the floods water gushed through communities, from Bothell to Bremerton, to the Boistfort Valley, leaving behind a trail of devastation that was hard to believe. Hundreds were trapped. Families were stranded.

From the air, the Coast Guard made rescue after rescue, and boats brought dozens of people out of the floods.

"At 9:30 it was coming in the door. By 10 o'clock we were floating," said Sylvia Tomblin.

KOMO 4 News teamed up with the Salvation Army. Just one day after the storm, we put out the word to our viewers that we hoped to fill a semi truck full of supplies.

The response was tremendous. Your donations helped us fill seven trucks with food, water and clothes, as well as $65,000 in cash.

Now, three months later, one grocery store in Lewis County might just be a symbol of so many communities. Devastated and still in disarray, the Curtis Store reflects the spirit and determination of the victims to rebuild, to open again.

Ben Hearn has a ton of work to do to get the store open again. He bought the store after the flood, because the previous owner wasn't going to rebuild.

The Curtis Store opened more than a hundred years ago. Hearn and many others in the area feel the store is the heart of the community.

He already tore out what's left of the floor. That's the only way to get to all the mud that must be dug out. It's a daunting task.

On Dec. 3, the flood waters in the store was 9 feet high. And things weren't much better outside the store.

"Throughout the whole valley, it was a big lake out here," said Hearn.

It's hard to look at what the storm left behind and imagine it was a store, but Hearn grew up in the area. He knew it well.

"All the kids used to always come in for the penny candies," he said.

When Hearn gets tired of doing one job, he moves onto another. He's still got to dig out the foot-deep mud.

"I had the YMCA youth group, bunch of kids came in a couple weekends ago and they helped me for two days digging mud out," he said.

But the volunteers are dwindling. Not many show up during the week, and now just a few show on the weekends.

"There's nobody here in the valley looking for a handout," Hearn said. "If people come in and give us a hand up, that's what everybody needs, not just myself but everybody else who's rebuilding.."

Hearn's neighbor Clark Dixon is rebuilding, too, and comes by often to support Hearn.

"I think its great! I was really happy when they told me someone had bought the store," Dixon said.

Dixon said the flood-ravaged community will one day be strong again because people are helping people.

"There's an old saying 'you can't choose your family but you can choose your friends.' We chose a family. This is our family and we're going to stick together like family," he said.

Hearn's wife and three kids live in cramped quarters above the store. They all share one bedroom. Lisa Hearn has no kitchen, but she does have hope.

"We're troopers. We'll keep going and the kids keep going and we're all surviving," she said.

Hearn hopes to open the store by summer, but he knows it really might be a year or more away.

"When that day comes it will just be relief," he said. "You feel like you worked so hard for something you want so bad when you finally get it, its like God answering a prayer for you."

Now here's how you can help. Oprah awarded the Problem Solvers $10,000. We've matched that with $10,000 more.

Click here to find out how to donate or nominate someone who needs help. Then on Sunday night at 9 p.m., tune in to Oprah's Big Give, then stay with KOMO 4 News at 11, when Kathi Goertzen will introduce you to a boy and his family who are a part of our Big Give.