De'Monte: Hero of Hurricane Katrina

Imagine the 2005 flood waters of Hurricane Katrina, so high and dangerous they strand you, your babies and all the neighbors on the roof for days. Imagine your desperation after the helicopter rescue team whisks away your kids, and doesn't return to bring you to them, as promised...

For Catrina Williams, this was reality.

Before her children were flown away, she instructed then six year old De'Monte to take care of his five month old baby brother and the other five neighborhood kids on the roof being rescued with him, all under three years of age.

Catrina and the neighbors were eventually evacuated to a shelter 550 miles away. Meanwhile, left without an adult to meander through the New Orleans devastation, De'Monte stayed true to his word, protecting all six babies until they were discovered and brought to a shelter in Baton Rouge. Days later, Catrina and her boys were reunited and De'Monte gained recognition nationwide for his bravery as the hurricane's tiny hero.

Now, exactly ten tears later, like so many who lost everything to the storm, Catrina and her family are still struggling to piece their lives back together. Every day, they struggle to make ends meet and to manage the after-effects of the trauma they survived.

Everyone who saw the devastation on TV (from the comfort of their own homes) wanted to do something to help. A decade later, we still can -- and any help is needed.

Donations will be used to start a college fund for De'Monte and his siblings, to help the family continue to treat the behavioral effects they manifest, to dig out of the proverbial hole created by the storm, and to finally regain some stability.

Any donations, large or small, are helpful and most sincerely appreciated. In advance, thank you so very much.