At a Salvation Army mobile feeding site after Hurricane Isaias, six children took a break from playing basketball to line up for dinner. Around them, families faced damaged homes, fallen trees and power outages, but the children continued to play, laugh and spend time together.
A young man accompanying them said he had brought them there “so they can be kids and stay out of trouble.” His words reflected the importance of giving children safe moments of normalcy during disaster recovery.
Before the canteen left, one child handed the driver a note that read “THANK YOU,” along with a few drawings. The storm had changed the children’s surroundings, but for a while, basketball, dinner and friendship allowed them simply to be kids.
