Lipford Plays Santa To Gulfport

It's going to be a tough Christmas for lots of people along the Gulf Coast trying to rebound after Hurricane Katrina left much of the region in ruins.

One of the hardest hit areas, Gulfport, Miss., lost thousands of homes.

But Danny Lipford, The Early Show's resident home improvement expert and host of the syndicated TV show "Today's Homeowner" delivered $1.7 million worth of construction supplies Monday to help Gulfport rebuild. The supplies were donated by sponsors of his show.

The Florida native, who's been a remodeling contractor in Mobile, Ala., for the last 26 years, visited Gulfport in October to tape a hurricane episode for his show, and couldn't believe his eyes.

The devastation, he

But Lipford has help, saying, "A lot different suppliers throughout the country knew I lived here on the Gulf Coast and they called me, asking what they could do. But what they wanted to make sure of is that if they donated products to this area, it would end up in the right hands.

"That's where the North Carolina Baptist Men's Association came in. They've really helped us tremendously in being able to find a conduit for these materials that have been coming in from all over the country.

"And, fortunately, they were able to work with the mayor here in Gulfport to be able to get this place, an armory, whereas warehouse space is so valuable here, they were able to get this, which is perfect for staging all the materials coming in."

Lipford says the group "is very serious. They have an organization of 400 to 500 volunteers all the time that are here, helping different people that really need help. They've already been to over 2,000 homes, tearing out drywall, trying to dry these areas out. They're looking at the different people that really need the most help.

"And of course, right after we finish (Monday morning), all of them are going back to North Carolina. But the day after Christmas, there's 500 of them coming down, and they're going to be real serious about building 500 new homes and getting these people back in the homes and trying to reestablish this community that's hurt pretty bad right now."

Lipford says the attitude of Gulfport's residents is amazing.

"I expected gloom and doom but what we found are some of the most optimistic, spirited people I've ever met in my life," he says. "There's no doubt this community is coming back. It's really pretty inspirational when you see what they're dealing with here, what they're going through, and to see them so optimistic. It's pretty cool. It makes us real proud to do what little bit we're doing here."