NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The rainy weather isn’t stopping Marie Boyd from pitching a tent, to encourage others to pitch in.
Boyd, executive director of Hampton Roads Good Samaritan Fund and chaplain for the Newport News Sheriff’s Office, decided to raise money for the Outer Banks hurricane relief fund in a unique way.
She’s staying in a tent in the parking lot at John B. Todd Stadium in Newport News for the next four days.
“I think my tent needs to be replaced at some point because we are taking a lot of water in right now but I’m still good with that,” Boyd said.
“It’s peaceful to me in here. I listen to some Christian music and wait for people to show up.”
She’s raising awareness—and raising money. She’s asking everyone to stop by and drop some money into her blue barrel. Every penny will go directly toward hurricane relief efforts.
“I went down [to the Outer Banks] and looked, what I saw was horrific,” she said.
“Come out, put your money in the barrel. We can’t take tangible things to them, they just need to rebuild. So the money goes directly to them.”
FEMA denied a request from North Carolina’s governor for federal assistance to households and individuals in Ocracoke who suffered damage due to Dorian.
Boyd said that motivated her to take action.
"As I’ve sat here for the last three hours and the rains been coming in my tent, I’m even more in awe of how strong they are," she said. "I just want to send them love and say, ‘We’re coming.'"
She doesn't have much with her, from some water, her cell phone, and a porta-potty courtesy of her husband.
"Graciously, my husband says that’s a gift from him," she said.
"I don’t bring food—those people don’t have a lot of food. I’m at the mercy of somebody bringing me a sandwich here and there.”
She’ll pack up and leave on Thursday night.
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