wfn.org | Lutherans Active In Disaster Relief In Indiana, Florida, Gulf Coast

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 11, 2005

Lutherans Active In Disaster Relief In Indiana, Florida, Gulf Coast
05-215-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response is organizing
spiritual care teams and volunteers to help repair and rebuild
homes in Evansville and Newburgh, Ind., after a Nov. 6 tornado
killed more than 22 people and destroyed property and land there.
Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod (LCMS), also continues its hurricane-recovery work in
Florida and the U.S. Gulf Coast.
     "The tornado is described as the deadliest to hit Indiana in
three decades," said Heather L. Feltman, director of Lutheran
Disaster Response and director of ELCA Domestic Disaster
Response.
     There was no damage to six churches of the ELCA or seven
LCMS churches in Evansville, Feltman reported.
     "Lutheran Disaster Response will be coordinating its
response work with its partner organization, Grace Lutheran
Retreat Ministries, Inc., St. Louis, and Church World Service,"
said Feltman.  Church World Service is the relief, development
and refugee assistance ministry of 36 U.S. Protestant and
Orthodox churches, including the ELCA.

Lutherans Continue Hurricane-Relief Work in Florida, U.S. Gulf
Coast
     Lutheran congregations in Florida are providing food, health
kits and clean-up kits for survivors of Hurricane Wilma, which
struck the southwestern coast of Florida on Oct. 24.  The
hurricane killed six people and caused billions of dollars of
property damage there.
     Lutheran Disaster Response "is coordinating volunteer
efforts through its partner organization," Lutheran Services of
Florida, Tampa, Feltman reported.
     According to Stew Gaylord, volunteer coordinator, Lutheran
Disaster Response in Florida, "We are looking for more
volunteers.  Youth groups (seeking to help) must be 14 years old
(and older) and have one adult for every five youth."  Volunteers
with experience using chainsaws are needed, as well as clean-up
and cooking volunteer crews, he said.
     In the U.S. Gulf Coast, "a large Lutheran Disaster Response
team continues to organize response efforts after Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita," said Feltman.  She said more than $1 million
to date has been distributed in hardship grants for Lutherans and
others who need assistance for expenses such as housing, child
care and any health-related needs not covered under insurance or
FEMA grants.
     Lutheran congregations are setting up "tent cities" to house
volunteers, who came from across the country to help clean up the
Gulf Coast, said Feltman.  Lutheran Disaster Response is
"assisting congregations" in this effort, she said.
     Kurt Senske, president and CEO, Lutheran Social Services of
the South, Austin, Texas, told Feltman, "Everyday we receive
dozens of new requests for disaster assistance from people who
have lost everything (from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita).  We are
responding as quickly as we can in whatever way we can through
grants, prayer and sometimes just being there to hear their
stories.  We pray that the help and support that we, as
Lutherans, can offer provides some measure of relief and comfort
during this difficult time for so many."
     Lutheran Disaster Response is investing about $5 million
with its partner organizations that are assisting Americans
displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, said Feltman.
     "This commitment of resources will assist persons in
accessing affordable housing, vocational assistance and many
other needs that exist for hundreds of thousands of displaced
families.  To date, funds have been distributed to survivors of
the hurricanes now living in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia,
Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North
Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Washington," she
said.  "Additional states will be receiving funds in December."
     "Together as a church our congregations, social ministry
organizations and all (other) expressions, we've come together as
Lutheran Disaster Response to bring help, healing and hope to
(people) affected by disasters.  Thank you for your partnership
in this ministry.  Thanks be to God for the gifts of our church
and our partners," Feltman said.
- - -
DOMESTIC DISASTERS:

Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds to aid
survivors of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto
Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:
ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago,
Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via Internet:
http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/katrina

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news