Grisham Starts New Fund for S. Mississippi Rebuilding

TUPELO, Miss. — Bestselling writer John Grisham (search) and his wife will contribute $5 million to a relief fund they established this week, Rebuild the Coast Fund, at a Tupelo bank to help Mississippians rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.


Grisham, a former state legislator, said the fund will assist Mississippi residents and businesses.

"When you make charitable contributions, you realize you can't save the world, so you find a small area you can go into and hopefully do some good and do it with your own money and your own sweat and you see the results," he said. "You can't spread yourself too thin."

The next step, Grisham said, is to hire a small staff to evaluate the hundreds — perhaps thousands — of requests for aid. The couple hopes to initially employ coast residents who have lost their jobs and are familiar with the area.

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I applaud John Grisham's efforts. I hope JRE gets inspired to do this with his poverty center or perhaps start another fund. This is what we need to be doing, regardless if a hurricane wipes out a community or not. We need to create jobs for those who lost everything else. Work gives people a focus and dignity to get back on their feet.