After Hurricane Laura laid waste to parts of Louisiana where she used to live, WCCO's own Sheletta Brundidge felt she had to do something.
So she left the Twin Cities in early October for the town of Lake Charles, carrying special presents.
What she witnessed upon arrival was anything but a gift.
"I saw beds and toilets and mattresses, everything people owned, in the front of their yards," she said, reliving the sight that she saw in the town she had called home.
"I was like, 'Lord have mercy, I'm coming here with books."
Yes, Sheletta, her husband, and their four children packed up their vehicle with books and toys to give to kids who also lost everything in the storm.
"These people are going to cuss me out," she said.
She was wrong.
And that's what made her effort so right.
They came to the giveaway at Calcasieu Central Library to welcome her. And they kept coming.
The welcome was amazing to Sheletta, and heart-warming.
"The people who had lost their cars walked up, the people who couldn't walk up, sent friends," she said. "We got there at 9 and people had already been lined up since 7. Just to get a book and a toy, and to say how much they appreciated Minnesotans caring about them."
Sheletta was able to distribute about one-thousand books and five-hundred toys during the three-hour give away.
"They were so excited to see us," she said. "There were so many people, they had to call the police because they were blocking streets."
Sheletta also was able to pay respects to five family members who died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator after the storm, and was hoping to raise awareness for safety procedures.
