FEATURE
InfoMart Stages Daring New Orleans Rescue

The mission began late on Wednesday, August 31, when InfoMart employee Marlene Murphy relayed the following to her associates: her sister and brother-in-law were stranded in a home in New Orleans with extended family, including several children. In response, InfoMart employees and the community immediately began buying food, clothes and other necessities for this group. However, it was quickly realized that a rescue mission was the highest priority.

Calls went out to Louisiana police, the Coast Guard, Congressman Phil Gingrey's office, GEMA, Naval Air Station Atlanta's Captain Sean King and other community leaders to coordinate the rescue of the 15 children - ranging in age from seven months to 15 years - and the 18 adults still trapped in the home in the devastated Crescent City.

InfoMart employees jumped into action, renting three passenger vans and a truck for the rescue mission. The convoy - piloted by InfoMart's founders and a handful of employees - left Marietta at 3:30 pm on Friday, September 2 bound for New Orleans.

The community rallied to support InfoMart's New Orleans rescue mission in incredible ways. SA White Oil President Kim Gresh assisted in the logistics of locating fuel for the trip. Mellow Mushroom Pizza and Panera Bread donated food when the evacuees arrived. Discounted rooms were provided at the Radisson Hotel for the evacuees' first night in Marietta, and the Marietta Conference Center and Resort donated free rooms for additional nights before the evacuees were moved into transitional housing courtesy of the YWCA of Northwest Georgia. Several local churches provided meals and furniture for the transitional housing.

Though the trip to New Orleans was fraught with danger and uncertainty, InfoMart President Tammy Cohen stated, "Once we made the decision to make this trip, we never looked back, because we knew that rescuing these children and the families stranded was the right thing to do - regardless of the obstacles we faced."

Marlene's family members are now in a stable home environment here in Marietta and are ready to take on the challenges inherent in reestablishing their lives. The children have also been enrolled in Marietta City Schools. The other survivors of this tragedy rescued by InfoMart have been reunited with family members locally or in Virginia and Tennessee.