Author hosts toy, book giveaway today in LC
Kathleen Hilliard
Compassion and assistance have been coming to Southwest Louisiana from all over the United States since Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta hit the area.
An author from Minnesota is coming to Lake Charles today, Oct. 16, with children’s books and toys to hand out.
The toy and book giveaway will begin at 9 a.m. at Calcasieu Parish Public Library and move to the SWLA Center for Health Services at noon.
“I have deep, deep roots in Lake Charles – a lot of love for the city, and my heart went out to everyone during Hurricane Laura,” said Sheletta Brundidge, the author who first decided to do the giveaway. Brundidge is the author of ‘Cameron Goes to School,’ the story of her autistic daughter’s journey into kindergarten.
Brundidge lost five close relatives the day after Hurricane Laura due to carbon monoxide poisoning. This trip is serving as a way for Brundidge to honor her family’s giving legacy and support the community that is so dear to her heart.
“After my family (members) died, I thought ‘how am I going to be a blessing to everybody there, because I want to do something to bless the people in the city.’ While I was thinking of coming down there to visit the grave sites to grieve, I could clearly hear my aunt’s voice in my spirit … ‘Don’t come down here to grieve for me, come down here to give,’ ” explained Brundidge.
She also explained that her aunt was a giver and had given “so much of herself” to Lake Charles, and that her late aunt was the first African American female postal supervisor in Southwest Louisiana.
She came around to the idea that she could give what was left of her warehouse supply, about 2,000 books, as a way to give something to the Lake Charles community. Hearing about the situation from their publisher, half a dozen other authors from the same publishing company came together and eagerly donated cases of their own books to give to her cause. A local toy company, Manhattan Toys, learned about the giveaway and donated 500 toys to take to Louisiana.
“I was just overwhelmed at the generosity and kindness of these Minnesotans who don’t know these people in Lake Charles … but just out of the kindness of their hearts they decided they were going to join with me and do something special and create a moment that would bless hundreds of children who have lost everything. It’s a move of God – you have to know the hand of God when you see it, and that is God,” enthused Brundidge.
Brundidge, her husband and their four children, three with special needs, are making the two-day trip with the “thousands of books and 500 toys” from Cottage Grove, Minn.
“We’re coming with love, we’re coming with an RV full of books and toys to give away to children … we’re coming there to put a smile on people’s faces. When we leave, we’re leaving love, we’re leaving laughter, we’re leaving a spirit of joy and happiness behind,” said Brundidge.
Rick Hickman