After Katrina, my dad went there with a mobile disaster unit to help prepare meals for the relief workers and the locals. He remembers vividly standing on a street corner, handing out care boxes of non-perishables. A woman walked up with a small child and handed him a small stuffed red heart. Her eyes met his briefly before turning to leave. My dad just stood there, tears rolling down his cheeks.

He was forever changed by that.