Katrina Relief - Update
Some of you may know that through my church I have been supporting Hurricane Katrina relief in Mississippi over the past few months. All Saints’ Episcopal Church has collected Walmart and Lowe’s gift cards to distribute to families in need, as well as sent volunteer crews out to help. We are now accepting prayers and monetary donations for work tools for the current trip. This month our crew of 13 from All Saints’ has gone to Camp Coast Care in Long Beach, Mississippi. The group will do the "heavy lifting" while they are there, then donate all the materials and tools to the folks in Mississippi for their continued labors. Please keep them in your prayers. We’ll report more upon their return.
An email from Rector, Father David Knight:
"First of all, I must say how amazed I continue to be by the support of so many people all over this continent. The generosity and deep concern of our supporters has been what has helped us survive to this point. Thank you all for all you do.
Many of you have helped us through the relief center and medical clinic at Camp Coast Care (www.campcoastcare.com). Tens of thousands of people have been served through that center, which will continue to provide food and clothing, as well as clean up support in our area. Each day work crews are sent out, they have literally cleaned up hundreds of yards and homes. Eventually this effort will move to more of a rebuilding project, and we will continue to house hundreds of volunteers to support that work. See the website above and the website for our diocese, www.dioms.org, for more information on how to help.
The medical clinic will hopefully move to Coastal Family Health clinic, which my wife Jennifer, who is the leader of our free clinic, is assisting to set up with a medical trailer and staffing in Long Beach near a FEMA trailer park and our relief center. It is important for us to move folks back into the medical community as doctors come back online.
We continue to try and gather as much information as possible regarding our options for rebuilding. We have looked at some temporary worship buildings. We are very anxious to make some progress, but it is slow going. We need as much factual information as possible regarding requirements to rebuild on our beach location, if we should so choose.
Many of our folks will of course be drawn to return there. Others are in favor of moving north of the beach. What I have promised the Parish is we will, as a group, talk about these things, answer questions, and allow people to speak their minds. Following that time together, tentatively planned for January 28, the Vestry will enter a process of prayerfully discerning where God would have us go.
We are four months post storm. Our folks continue to progress, although many have days where they are just as lost as they were August 29. Many are now receiving bad news from their insurance companies. The future is very uncertain. Areas of Long Beach and Pass Christian still look like a bomb went off (including our church site). Some days despair wins, others we are able to fight through it. I still believe we will make it because of people like you who are continuing to help us. It is what gives me hope.
I encourage you to visit our website, www.stpatricks.dioms.org. You will get more information on us and you can even listen to sermons (if you are really bored). The one from today talks about our rebuilding and the need for prayer. We are in a crucial time of discernment, all the while still in recovery mode. It will be a long haul. Thank you for being part of it.
God bless you all."
