Competence and Charity
Even under ordinary circumstances, it's hard to top Dallas for well-organized, enthusiastic charitable efforts. Given a crisis, the city's extraordinary networks of volunteers, churches, and charitable organizations--not to mention spontaneous outpourings--have proven even more remarkable.
City officials feared Katrina evacuees would overflow the space available in Reunion Arena and the convention center. Instead, there's room to spare. Refugees have indeed shown up by the thousands, but fewer than expected have had to stay in the city's massive shelters, because small shelters, churches, hotels, and local residents have taken them in. "Downtown volunteers served Sunday dinner to about 10,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees, but at bedtime at Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center fewer than 1,800 of the approximately 8,200 prepared beds were occupied," reports the DMN.
The response has been so hospitable that one displaced couple even named their newborn baby Dallas.