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Carol and Boake Moore live in a big house overlooking the Chattahoochee River in Roswell.

by Gboake | June 20, 2006 at 07:53 pm | 2560 views | 1 comment

Carol and Boake Moore live in a big house overlooking the Chattahoochee River in Roswell. So, after several days of following the misery in New Orleans, they went online and posted an offer to take in a family that had fled Hurricane Katrina.

A young man named Myron Celestine called. His family is from the Desire Street neighborhood, one of the poorest in New Orleans. They had barely made it out alive, and they were on the way to Atlanta.

How many are you? Carol asked.

Eight, Myron said.

Then he added this: "We have nothing."

The group arrived last Saturday morning —- eight adults and three young children. Myron hadn't mentioned the children.

Oh, and the basketball team he coaches at Desire Street Ministries was on its way, too. Eleven of them, all 6-footers-plus. And two of the players were bringing girlfriends. One has a 13-month-old child; the other is 18 years old and five months pregnant.

They all came to the Moores' house, weary, apprehensive and virtually penniless.

"It all happened so fast that we weren't really thinking," Carol said.

But there was no time for second-guessing, or even counting. Quickly, the Moore home became a beehive of activity.

Blankets and pillows and people tossed everywhere. A mattress on the porch. Two tents on the rear deck. Meal times posted on the mirror in the downstairs bathroom. Extra mattresses in the two bedrooms in the basement, where the ballplayers sleep. Phones ringing nonstop. Everyone scrambling to enroll children at school and two of the young men at Georgia State University.

Then something happened. Amid that chaos, these people, so different before their lives were slammed together, became friends.

The Moores' children, ages 4, 6 and 7, all with blond hair and peaches-and-cream skin, play as if they're long lost pals with their guests' children.

Every night is karaoke night. The young kids perform for the grown kids, and the laughter never stops. It drifts from the basement playroom to the upstairs, where the adults, exhausted, map out the next day's strategy for getting kids to school, finding medical records, going on job interviews and fixing up a rental house where some of the evacuees will eventually live.

The Moore family of five is becoming a family of many, many more —- a crazy brew of cultures and colors and ways of life.

"We're being adopted by a great family," said Sylvia Cook, Myron's mother.

They went to church last Sunday —- 28 of them. At the end of the service at Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church, a giant congregation in Alpharetta, the pastor asked Myron to come forward and speak.

He told the story of the great New Orleans flood. He told them he felt blessed by the kindness his family had been shown by these complete strangers.

"He tangibly had nothing, and he was up there thanking God for all that he had," Carol said. "There wasn't a dry eye in the house."

After that, the family really expanded.

Generosity on all sides

Parishioners started bringing them food and clothing and cash.

They contributed gift cards to Kohl's and Target and Wal-Mart.

They loaned the visitors cars so they could take their kids to school and look for jobs.

Several parishioners opened their homes to take some of the load off the Moores, who certainly needed the help.

The other day, Myron was driving in his pickup truck with a bunch of the basketball players sprawled in the back. A guy pulled up in his car, saw Myron's Louisiana license tag and tossed a $10 bill into the truck.

"We've been blown away," Myron said. "We didn't expect this."

At the Moore house, everybody pitches in —- washing dishes, cooking, helping the kids with their homework. The house is under assault —- anywhere from 13 to 33 guests have slept there each night —- but it's tidy and clean. Boake is a salesman, Carol a stay-at-home mom, so much of the extra work at the house has fallen to her.

Everyone, though, helps with chores. Neighbors bring a meal for the entire crew, and leave with sacks of dirty laundry. They do the wash, then haul it back to the Moore house.

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Gboake

at 20:27 on June 20th, 2006

Helping needy proves to be grounds to buy coffee

Candice Hannigan - For the Journal-Constitution

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Boake
Moore was returning to Atlanta from his third mission trip to Costa
Rica last year and couldn't shake the feeling that he wanted to do more
to help the people he left behind.

"It's tough to leave. You're always trying to figure out, 'How can I
help? How can I do more?' I wanted to help Costa Rica, Africa and
Venezuela, but there's not three of me," Moore said.

Meanwhile, a fellow missionary who brought back 100 bags of coffee
discovered an enthusiastic group of consumers in this area. He sold out
in just a week. After a circulation of e-mails asking for more coffee,
an idea began to brew.

"It just clicked that I could import the coffee and help kids at the same time," Moore said.

Mission Grounds was born.

After some research, Moore located a small co-op of farmers in Costa
Rica and asked for coffee samples. He established the nonprofit
ministry, dedicated to sending 100 percent of the profits to orphans,
and planned to sell the coffee strictly at churches.

Sales didn't meet his expectations, so he decided to approach Kroger
because it's "the store where I remember shopping since I was 6 years
old."

Within three months, he got the green light to set up displays in three
stores in the Alpharetta and Roswell areas. Sales have gone so well
that Kroger officials approved displays in nine additional stores.

"I've donated $7,600 since January," Moore said. "The big project that
I'm doing is building an orphanage in Venezuela, and they got $5,500 of
that. We're also supporting monthly an orphanage in South Africa and in
Russia, sending $200 a month to each one."

At the first three Krogers, sales average 150 1-pound bags per month.
Moore set the price at $5.99 for a pound of the gourmet coffee that he
describes as very flavorful and without bitterness.

"The stores have been great," Moore said. "They've allowed me to do samples on Saturdays, handing out free coffee."

Moore, who works full time as a corporate recruiter, and his wife,
Carol, have spent two days each week stocking the stores. Moore's
friend Tom Loach has agreed to help with the additional stores, with
stocking and storing coffee at his home.

Moore, a father of four, said he wants to improve the lives of children
in Third World poverty-stricken areas. He describes the devastating
effect AIDS has on children in Africa. Orphanages are filled with
children who no longer have a family on which they can rely, he said.

"The big thing you realize when you go on a mission trip is that the
people, once they can't afford to take care of a child, just abandon
the child," he said. "The children need the help the most. The adults
can fend for themselves."

June 20, 2006 at 07:53 pm by Gboake, 2560 views, 1 comment

in Charles, 20, 6, oh, here, cooking, 22, elizabeth, chiquita, " Carol said, " Carol said., " Carol said. "There wasn't a dry eye in the house.", " Dalton said, " Dalton said., " Lawson said., " Myron said. "We didn't expect this.", " Tyron said., " said Damien Sawyer, " said Leonard Sanders, " said Myron, " said Sylvia Cook, " she said., " she said. Everyone else eats on the run., "He tangibly had nothing, "Hopping on the back of that truck was the best thing I ever did, "How much does it cost?" Dalton's sister, "I always wanted a reason to leave that city, "I don't want to play this anymore, "I'm going to be in trouble when they go, "It all happened so fast that we weren't really thinking, "It's free, "Look at the blood!" Tyron yelled as Marciano collapsed., "They've fallen in love with my scrambled eggs with cheese, "Uppercut got him, "Wanna play NBA?" Tyron asked., "We're all family now, "We're being adopted by a great family, "We've been blown away, "What we built was special, "What's for dinner tonight?" Boake asked Carol., "Whatever you're grilling, "Yeah, "for letting him live in our house and being nice to him.", 'To start a new life', * Al-Zarqawi's Group Claims Iraq Attack, * Boys' abductor now in custody, * Judge Wants Psychologist to Assess Baldwin, * Police: Deputy was a 'john', * South grads killed in 1-car wreck, 27, 4-year-old Carleigh Moore squealed with delight as Matthew Hawthorne, 6 and 7, A young man named Myron Celestine called. His family is from the Desire Street neighborhood, After that, All the while, And on Friday night, And then, At the Moore house, Before dinner, Blankets and pillows and people tossed everywhere. A mattress on the porch. Two tents on the rear deck. Meal times posted on the mirror in the downstairs bathroom. Extra mattresses in the two bedrooms in the basement, But there was no time for second-guessing, But where is home now?, Carleigh and Tyron Celestine, Carol a stay-at-home mom, Carol and Boake Moore live in a big house overlooking the Chattahoochee River in Roswell. So, Carol and Boake learned Dalton was getting bullied on the schoolbus. Boake came home from work the other day and couldn't find his kids., Carol gets up early and makes breakfast for all the kids at one time., Dalton told Lawson he wanted a cut like his dad's, Damien and his basketball buddies have been together in the Desire neighborhood a few miles northeast of the French Quarter since they were little children. When New Orleans was the murder capital of the nation in the 1990s, Desire was the murder capital of New Orleans., Dinner is a huge project, EMAIL THIS, Each morning, Earlier, Eight, Even Carol's gynecologist is helping. He's taking care of the pregnant 18-year-old., Every night is karaoke night. The young kids perform for the grown kids, Everyone, Games and haircuts, Generosity on all sides, He looked all around the house and finally went into a bedroom in the basement. And there was Darrell Singleton, He told the story of the great New Orleans flood. He told them he felt blessed by the kindness his family had been shown by these complete strangers., How many are you? Carol asked., Jones beat Marciano to a pulp., Lawson Celestine, Lawson just kept on cutting., Lawson sat him down in the kitchen, MOST POPULAR, MOST POPULAR STORIES, Myron, Myron said., Myron told the young men on his team that he was getting out with his family, Myron was driving in his pickup truck with a bunch of the basketball players sprawled in the back. A guy pulled up in his car, Myron's 25-year-old brother, Myron's mother, Myron's mother., On a recent afternoon, One evening, PRINT THIS, Parishioners started bringing them food and clothing and cash., Several parishioners opened their homes to take some of the load off the Moores, Sylvia Cook, Sylvia grabbed her hand and held it tightly., Sylvia said., That is a question many of these evacuees have asked themselves. The most common answer at the Moore house: not New Orleans., The Moore family has its own game, The Moore family of five is becoming a family of many, The Moores' children, The group arrived last Saturday morning —- eight adults and three young children. Myron hadn't mentioned the children., The other day, Then he added this: "We have nothing.", Then something happened. Amid that chaos, They all came to the Moores' house, They contributed gift cards to Kohl's and Target and Wal-Mart., They fought again, They loaned the visitors cars so they could take their kids to school and look for jobs., They went to church last Sunday —- 28 of them. At the end of the service at Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church, Tyron and 7-year-old Dalton Moore went at it on a X-Box boxing game, Tyron picked Roy Jones Jr.; Dalton took Rocky Marciano., Wherever these evacuees end up, a 300-pound man-child who left his hometown with what he was wearing —- sneakers, a faith-based charity that helps boys navigate the minefields that are everywhere in Desire. When the main levee between Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans was breached after Hurricane Katrina, a giant congregation in Alpharetta, after several days of following the misery in New Orleans, ages 4, all 6-footers-plus. And two of the players were bringing girlfriends. One has a 13-month-old child; the other is 18 years old and five months pregnant., all handled on the backyard deck., all with blond hair and peaches-and-cream skin, and for the third time, and he did Boake later in the week —- a little spike cut., and he keeps everybody looking trim. He gave each of the basketball players a cut before church, and he was up there thanking God for all that he had, and her husband, and if they wanted to come, and leave with sacks of dirty laundry. They do the wash, and the basketball team he coaches at Desire Street Ministries was on its way, and the laughter never stops. It drifts from the basement playroom to the upstairs, and their two kids say they will go home to New Orleans as soon as it's habitable., and they were on the way to Atlanta., and went at his long blond hair., apprehensive and virtually penniless., as children often do, asked., became friends., called high-low., come now., everybody pitches in —- washing dishes, everyone goes around the table and recalls their high point and low point of the day. During one of the games, exhausted, finding medical records, going on job interviews and fixing up a rental house where some of the evacuees will eventually live., have decided to stay in Atlanta. All the kindness they've been shown made the decision easy, helping the kids with their homework. The house is under assault —- anywhere from 13 to 33 guests have slept there each night —- but it's tidy and clean. Boake is a salesman, helps with chores. Neighbors bring a meal for the entire crew, her eyes filling with tears., his wife, hungry for the latest news from back home., is a barber by trade, is their coach and mentor at Desire Street Ministries, many more —- a crazy brew of cultures and colors and ways of life., map out the next day's strategy for getting kids to school, one of the basketball players, one of the big basketball players, one of the poorest in New Orleans. They had barely made it out alive, or even counting. Quickly, play as if they're long lost pals with their guests' children., playing high-low., ran and jumped and held hands as they walked down the street to pick up Carleigh's brother and sister at the bus stop., saw Myron's Louisiana license tag and tossed a $10 bill into the truck., shorts and a tank top —- and nothing more., sitting on the floor with all six of the little kids in a circle, so different before their lives were slammed together, so much of the extra work at the house has fallen to her., so on Friday night, squeezed his giant frame into a small chair so he could join her for dinner at the children's table., that was 14 pounds of ribs., the Moore home became a beehive of activity., the New Orleans contingent huddles around the kitchen computer and the TV, the bond between these strangers grows., the family really expanded., the pastor asked Myron to come forward and speak., then haul it back to the Moore house., these people, these strangers join hands to give thanks and say grace. Afterward, they know they'll always have plenty of support back at the Moore house and at Mount Pisgah., they went online and posted an offer to take in a family that had fled Hurricane Katrina., they were already planning their next adventure., though, too. Eleven of them, weary, where the adults, where the ballplayers sleep. Phones ringing nonstop. Everyone scrambling to enroll children at school and two of the young men at Georgia State University., where the players control the punches., who certainly needed the help., who has enrolled at Georgia State. "I'm looking at this as a chance to start a new life.", who is recreation director at Desire Street Ministries. "It was beginning to transform the young men in that community. We'll go back and rebuild.", with massive amounts of meat, wrapped the black barber's robe around him

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Carol and Boake Moore live in a big house overlooking the Chattahoochee River in Roswell.