wfn.org | "Church World Service Featured in Dec. 11 CBS Interfaith

["Lesley Crosson" <lcrosson@churchworldservice.org>]

"Church World Service Featured in Dec. 11 CBS Interfaith Religion Special
"After The Storm: Religions Respond to Nature's Fury"

NEW YORK, Dec. 7 --The disaster relief work of Church World Service will
be featured in a CBS interfaith religion special, After The Storm:
Religions Respond to Nature's Fury, scheduled for broadcast  Sunday,
December 11 on 83 CBS Television Network stations.   (Broadcast dates and
times for several cities listed below.	Please check local broadcast
listings for dates and times of the program in your area)

The special reviews the major natural disasters of the past year and
focuses on the response of the interfaith community to the Gulf Coast
hurricanes here in the USA. It travels to Baton Rouge, La., where a wide
range of faith-communities are seen working cooperatively to relieve the
suffering and dislocation of so many.

Woven throughout the piece is an interview with the Rev. Lura Cayton, one
of the Church World Service (CWS) disaster response and recovery liaisons
coordinating the agency's response to the Katrina disaster.

The victims, many of whom lost family, friends, homes, churches, and
businesses in the storm, tell stories of their losses and their efforts to
recover.  There are stories of pain and heroic sacrifice.  Some hurricane
survivors also have family suffering in Pakistan because of the devastating earthquake there and must send money to help them.

With 60 years experience in domestic and international disaster response,
Church World Service (CWS), the global humanitarian relief agency
supported by Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations in the
United States, was one of the first agencies to respond to the Gulf Coast
disaster.

CWS is focusing on long-term recovery, particularly for under-served
populations.  To identify and serve people whose needs are not being fully
met, CWS is working with existing community organizations and is helping
to establish new, independent non-profit community organizations whose
sole work-during this crisis and beyond-will be to fill the serious
disaster related needs of these people in their local communities. The
under-served populations identified in a particular community could
include the elderly, the disabled, the uninsured, or others needing
additional help with housing, medicine, transportation, clothing,
rebuilding, or some other social service that has not been provided.

The special also profiles the Rev. Darryl Tate and the Rev. Connie Thomas
-- who are suddenly churchless because of the hurricanes, and who have
pitched in to work with the Methodist Disaster Recovery Center in Baton
Rouge.

In addition, the interfaith special highlights the New Orleans suburb of
Henner, where Abdul Rahman Bashir, the Imam of a local mosque, and other
Muslims distribute supplies provided by the Islamic Circle of North
America. At the same time, the program follows Father Ernest Saik, who has
opened St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge to house mothers needing
to be near their premature babies being cared for at the Women's Hospital
next door.

John P. Blessington is the executive producer of the special.  Ted Holmes
is the producer. It is being produced with the cooperation of the National
Council of Churches, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, The
Jewish Theological Seminary and the Southern Baptist Broadcast Communication Group

Following is a list of some of the 83 stations airing the broadcast. Check
your local listings for broadcast stations, dates and times in your
area.

New York:  WCBS-TV,
12/25 at 1:00 PM

South Bend, Indiana: WSBT-TV
12/25 at 1:00 PM

Chicago: WBBM-TV
12/24 at 3:05 AM

Boston: WBZ-TV
12/18 at 5:00 AM

Dallas: KTVT-TV
12/24 at 10:30 PM

New Orleans: WWL-TV
12/11 at 5:00 AM

Birmingham: WIAT-TV
12/11 at 11:30 AM

Lafayette, Louisiana: KLFY-TV
12/17 at 12:30 PM

San Diego: KFMB -TV
12/11 at 7:00 AM

Los Angeles: KCBS-TV
12/11 at 7:00 AM

San Francisco: KPIX-TV
12/11 at 7:00 AM

Media Contacts:
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net
Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org

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