On a Personal Note // Hurricane Michael Relief & the Power of a Community

To my colleagues, my partners, my friends:

It has been both a devastating and awe-inspiring week for me. From the time Michael started to strengthen and evacuations orders were placed to landfall as a near Category 5 hurricane and today, your outpouring of compassion and support for the little towns I love in the Florida Panhandle has been overwhelming.

Your constant calls and texts from near and far to check on my family and friends and home (and dog) have amazed me. I haven’t received an email in the past week that didn’t start or finish with “I hope you are safe, We are praying, or What can we do to help?”

I was only mildly effected by the hurricane.

I still don't have internet or cable, and cell service is weak... but just 20 miles to the East of me is a war zone. Panama City, Marianna and Mexico Beach took the direct hit from #HurricaneMichael, and my community — we went to work. We wanted to help. We needed to help. We loaded trucks with supplies, cooked for masses, put tarps on houses, waved at first responders, prayed for families to be reunited and simply took care of one another.

(That's my little guy, Taylor, and a buddy on one of our many donation shopping trips.)

I left my home in the Panhandle on Sunday and joined many of you at the IBM Systems Technical University in south Florida. I was greeted with nonstop hugs and an overwhelming amount of support — not just for me, but for the community that I call home.

I am humbled by my network. I am extremely proud to call you my work family. You are amazing.

Not an hour goes by without a friendly reminder that you care and want to help — my inbox is overflowing with support. My doorstep has been flooded with everything from diapers and first aid kits to tarps and power banks. You have sent Venmos out of nowhere to buy whatever supplies I thought were most needed. You have given me your credit cards to fill grocery carts. You have given hope.

People helping people, loving one another. It’s a beautiful thing.

Communities supporting communities. That’s what it is all about. And today, I feel so blessed to be a part of both my professional and personal communities.

Thank you for inspiring me.

With love and gratitude,

KN