An e-mail making its way around the internet which originated from Louisiana State Police commander Mike Edmondson tells a great story which ought to make us proud to be Louisianans…

I did not want to wait until tonight to notify you about what just occurred. Troopers Hershel Smith and Chris Wright were assigned to a shelter yesterday. Unbeknownst to anyone, they met a family (husband, wife, daughter – 11 and son – 9) that were in the shelter and had nothing but the clothes on their back and their car. The parents told them that they had nothing left. Today, Smith and Wright went to Wal-Mart to buy some items for the family. A woman in the store overheard the troopers talking about this as they were shopping and followed them through the store. When they were checking out, the clerk told them that Wal-Mart was going to give them a 60% discount on the items. With the discount, the items were over $200. The woman that followed them, then said that she was going to pay for it and pulled out a bunch of gift cards. They tried to pay for the items but the woman insisted on doing it.

After she paid for the merchandise, she told them that she owns 5 homes and was going to allow the family to stay in one of the houses until they got back on their feet. Evidently word spread quickly and the troopers were having trouble getting out of the parking lot because people kept knocking on the car windows to thank them.

They went back to the shelter and met with the family, who had no idea what was happening. When they delivered the merchandise and told them about the home, they all began crying and hugging the troopers. Truth be told, the troopers were crying also. Most troopers picked this profession to make a difference. These troopers are making a difference, one life at a time.

Most people know about the “Train Of Hope” from which Louisianans traveled to the affected area with tons and tons of relief supplies. They don’t know about the positive difference our state troopers made in helping with storm relief as well.

We just thought we’d share this one.