A Message from Danielle

Good afternoon,

This Fourth of July weekend, surrounded as I am by family and friends in the safe and dry confines of Culver, Indiana, has not been the patriotic and joyous gathering I envisioned. On Friday at 7:04 pm, my world was shaken with the receipt of an email from Reverend Paul Rasmussen of Highland Park United Methodist Church, the sister church to my own Highland Park Presbyterian Church, and home congregation to one of the “unaccounted for girls,” as I now refer to them in prayer. A prayer vigil had already commenced for Hadley Hanna and the families of the other Camp Mystic campers. That was how I found out.

For years, my twins camped at Camp Champions, two hours northeast of the tragedy in Hunt County, also in the glorious Texas Hill Country north of my hometown of San Antonio. Growing up, many teenage weekends were spent tubing the Guadalupe River, a tradition I carried all the way to my years at UT in Austin, when I would drive south on I-35 to arrive at my destination. Several summers ago, we rented a cabin on the river so my tribe could share in the rite of passage experience. The river was running high and my oldest flipped over, hitting his head and losing his bearings. Then, it was a reminder of how unforgiving the Guadalupe could be.

But this is not that. This is unspeakable and defies words.

Late last September, my dear friend Melody Wright pushed pause on her life as a mortgage and housing guru. She had helped form a Search & Rescue (SAR) team to locate the countless dead and buried prematurely, victims of Hurricane Helene, which devastated the hills surrounding her home of Johnson City, Tennessee. To this day, many children remain among the missing. The exact count is not part of any public record. Imagine the hell that those parents still suffer.

Upon introspection, Melody has made the decision to reassemble her SAR team, who will now make their way to Kerrville, Texas to, once again, help find the dead, and God willing, the living. Their experience is unique, and it is needed. Please join QI in supporting Steelcroft by way of equipment and provisions, or a donation (see Melody’s appeal below).

In closing, today I share Steelcroft’s guiding principle in lieu of this week’s QICYMI: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20

God bless,



Danielle