Bestselling novelist John Grisham and his wife, Renee, have announced that they will be donating $5 million to a fund they have established to help Mississippians rebuild the Gulf Coast.
"We don't normally publicize gifts. It's something we keep extremely private," the best-selling novelist said during a conference call Friday. "But in these very, very rare circumstances - this tragic time - we hope the gift will get some attention and inspire other people to contribute money and help our fellow Mississippians on the Gulf Coast."
The Grishams will deposit the money at BancorpSouth in Tupelo when offices reopen Tuesday after the Labor Day weekend. The bank will then handle all money for the effort, named the Rebuild the Coast Fund Organization.
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John Grisham, a former state legislator, said the fund will help only Mississippi residents and businesses because he wanted to make a difference here.
"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 you're own sweat and you see the results," he said. "You can't spread yourself too thin."
"I wonder how many of these homes are uninsured, how many are insured, and how big a gap there is between insurance and loss," the former Oxford resident said. "Let's help plug those gaps."
Contributions to the Rebuild the Coast Fund can be made online at RebuildTheCoastFund.org or at any BancorpSouth branch.
