“That was just another added incentive to get those coats to them,” Burk said. “So we took about 70 to 80 coats and boarded them on the bus the morning we left on Jan. 6 and that afternoon, when we arrived, Ali James from Unity for a Greater New Orleans and a representative from (New Orleans’ Mayor) Mayor Landrieu’s office greeted us … and we loaded the seven cases off the bus to a pickup truck and they took them off to serve the homeless people of New Orleans.”

Burk said it felt good to pass on the blessing to others less fortunate.

“When you’re blessed, I think you have a responsibility to share those blessings, and we have been so blessed by the generosity of the people in this community in helping us fund the trip that it just seemed like the natural thing to do to help someone else who was in need,” Burk said.