Mission of Love volunteers have been busy lately helping victims of two major hurricanes.

Hurricane Georges, which slammed Puerto Rico in October,caused major havoc by knocking out power,water and other basic utilities.Food supplies were demolished and homes were destroyed.MOL volunteers organized a relief effort at Sam's Club in Youngstown where more than 23,000 pounds of food,medicine,clothes, and building supplies were donated and then flown to the devastated country.

Hurricane Mitch was not far behind.Mitch slashed through Central America in late October killing thousands and crippling infrastructures in Honduras and Nicaragua.

A Cleveland disc jockey,Howie Green,at radio station 107.9 FM,fervently asked why no one was helping the suffering people in Central America.

That's when MOL stepped in and accepted the challenge.Howie had MOL Director Kathy Price on his morning show, and together they spread the word that MOL would be collecting relief items.Three days later more than 126 TONS of medical,food,and building supplies were collected at three sites in the greater Cleveland area,and at Sam's Club in Boardman.

Those items were airlifted out of Vienna,Ohio by the 910th Air Reserves and sent to Plamerola,Honduras the very next week.

This extraordinary work happened because a lot of people gave a little bit of themselves-- whether by donating items,volunteering at collection sites or driving trucks or by spreading the word about the activities to neighbors,friends,and families.

A great big thanks goes out to everyone who helped make these relief efforts a success.

An American hero was in town over the summer to support the Mission of Love.

Rear Admiral Jeremia Denton,a Vietnam Veteran,prisoner of war,former Alabama Senator and founder of the Denton Program,spent three busy days in the Cleveland area in August helping volunteers raise funds for future work trips and relief efforts.

The festivities started with a dinner at Massimo de Milano's where he spoke about his seven year experience as a Vietnam POW and why he started the Denton Program.Mary Jo Stetson's angelic voice graced the the audience as she sang the MOL theme song,"Eyes of a Child."

The next big event was a golf outing at the Western Reserve Golf and Country Club.Following that was a hearty steak dinner at the Brooklyn Exchange Club.

Many people made these events a success.A special thank you goes to John Wright,John Swanson and Joe Cannon for all their hard work organizing these events.

Eight years ago Kathy and Bob Price took a vacation to sunny Cancun.While on vacation they visited the beautiful island of Isla Mujeres.Little did they know that eight years later Kathy would be honored by the entire community as "The Daughter of Isla Mujeres",an honor given to only one other person in the 148 year history of the community.

Surrounded by citizens and MOL volunteers,Kathy was presented the award by the mayor of Isla Mujeres.

Isla Mujeres is the birthplace of the Mission of Love.Kathy and Bob realized that they could make a difference in the lives of other people after their vacation in this area.From that one trip,the MOL effiort snowballed into the wonderful organization it is today.

The mayor shared with the audience the attitude that Kathy Price has always displayed towards the people in his community.

He sited moments,such as when Hurricane Gilberto hit his island where Kathy demonstrated support,enthusiasm and altruistic attitude towards the children,the citizens in general, and especially those to whom Mother Nature was less than benevolent.He said these things cannot be repaid with money.

The mayor closed his speech with the following words,"Thank you Kathy Price for your lessons in love and affection,you can be sure that we will never forget you and that you will always be in our hearts."

Psst!,hey buddy,c'mere.

Yeah, waddya want?

Wanna go to an Indians game?

Waddya kiddin me? those games are sold out,who do I got to kill to get in?

Hey no this is legit.the real magillicuddy!

Well,what do I gotta do to get in?

First you got to look like a fan.Here,put on dis here Indians hat.

Hey!, way cool!

Now you gotta put on this red and white striped shirt.

HUH!,I'll look like a geek!

Then you gotta get to the stadium two hours early to get ready.After that you get to sell pop and pizza to the folks who are REALLY having fun .You can do this for nine innings.After the game you have to stick around to clean up the pop and pizza joint so it shines like a new penny.

Hey!, wadda bout the game ??

Don't worry about it.You'll be so busy hustlin pop and pizza you won't even realize there is a game goin on.

Waddya NUTS! Wadda I want to do somethin like that for?

Because at the end of the day you'll know that you helped to make the world a better place than it was the day before.

What we are really trying to say here is THANK YOU,THANK YOU,THANK YOU to all the wonderful people who sacrificed their summer to work at the Indians games to raise money for the Mission of Love.You all know that this outfit can't run on good intentions alone.

You also know that the world is a better place for YOU being in it!