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Relief given and received by a family

The Louisiana Sullivans were scattered after Katrina. The Tarpon Springs Sullivans became part of the donations effort.

By KATHERINE K. LEE
Published September 19, 2005

TARPON SPRINGS - After nearly two weeks of worrying about five of his eight siblings, who were still missing after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Bradford Sullivan, owner of Zante Cafe in Tarpon Springs, finally got that long-awaited phone call.

It was his brother George, calling from Baton Rouge to say all of them were alive and accounted for.

Sullivan had last heard from his brother the Sunday before Katrina struck, when George left the house to buy a generator. Then followed days of agonizing silence when the only answer Sullivan got when he dialed their cell phones was a fast busy signal.

"George tracked them down," Sullivan said. "One of my brothers is in the hospital because he couldn't get his medicine, but they're all okay. They scattered after the storm. He found them."

It was a happy ending for other reasons too. Sullivan hadn't stayed idle while he waited for word from his family. He channeled his energies into collecting clothes to take to the St. Pete Times Forum for donation. After a story about Sullivan and his family appeared in the Times Sept. 3, the boxes of clothes started overflowing.

A customer donated his box truck for a day, and the clothes, first-aid kits, batteries and Wal-Mart gift cards were transported first to the Forum and then to the airport Sept. 10.

The sight of so many boxes being loaded into planes bound for the disaster-stricken gulf areas was overwhelming for Sullivan's son Christian, who had solicited the help of his Boy Scout troop to collect donations.

Christian rode along in the truck to help unload the boxes, Sullivan said.

"There was a whole chain of people moving boxes from the Forum to other trucks," Sullivan said. "They just shoved the boxes of clothes to the front and filled the rest of our truck with other boxes and took them to the airport and unloaded everything. My son was beside himself."

[Last modified September 19, 2005, 01:08:18]