Local people keep making a difference

Locals have been doing as much as they can to help the Gulf Coast states. Here are a few updates from local groups: Paul Jerde and volunteers collected items last Thursday and Friday outside Wal-Mart Supercenter, 2300 Sycamore Road in DeKalb, for Christian Disaster Response International. He and Terry Newtson on Sunday drove 17 hours each way to take the items to D'Iberville Elementary School in D'Iberville, Miss. They returned to DeKalb on Tuesday. Jerde estimated they hauled 7,000 to 8,000 pounds of baby formula, food, water, medicine, cleaning supplies and clothing. The school had been turned into a holding place for goods and a soup kitchen. "It was highly organized," Jerde said of the operation. He said other volunteers had already cle