I wanted to share with you a Church press release on the efforts to help victims of Katrina. As I’ve mentioned before, I volunteered last year to help hurricane victims in Florida, and it’s a worthy cause. I’d love to hear information from Church members traveling to the region, and I’d encourage anybody who has the means or is close enough to the Gulf region to volunteer for this effort, which is the largest relief effort ever for the Church in the United States.
Keep on reading for the Church press release.
On a Mission of Mercy with Ladders, Chainsaws and Backhoes
SALT LAKE CITY — They have never met but already recognize each other’s voices and distinct accents over the telephone — dozens of leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who get together for a nightly conference call on a mission of mercy.
“Augusta, Georgia can send 200 people.†“We got 50 coming from Pensacola, Florida.†“Montgomery, Alabama has 100 responding.†“Baton Rouge, Louisiana has 100.†“South Carolina is sending 200.†“We have 600 coming in from Houston, Texas and hundreds more chomping at the bit!â€
And so it goes, late into the evening as leaders give reports of volunteers responding to a massive cleanup effort this weekend for victims of Hurricane Katrina — an effort that will culminate in the largest response ever by the Church to a disaster in the United States.
The volunteer effort will be the third phase of relief response from the Church, coordinated with the Red Cross and other agencies. The first was the pre-positioning of truckloads of relief supplies when warning of the approaching storm was given. The second was to utilize 20 Church buildings to house several thousand evacuees.
Now, the third phase will marshal those wanting to help, mainly from areas where the storm caused the most damage, such as Slidell, Louisiana. There, members of the Church echoed the feelings of many hurricane victims saying “Help dig us out, so we can dig out our neighbors and friends.â€
Ten thousand Church members from the South and the Gulf Coast have signed up to work. The first 3,000 will be put to work this weekend, with the rest following in waves.
The volunteers will provide a constant stream of relief from Hammond, Louisiana, in the west to Mobile, Alabama, in the east to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in the north.
The Church has assigned coordination of the massive response to Church Emergency Operations Center Director John Anderson, a Floridian, who helped organize Church volunteers during last year’s hurricanes.
“We are on a mission of mercy with ladders, chainsaws and backhoes,†Anderson said.
All volunteers will be completely self- sufficient. That means bringing their own supplies, including food, chemical toilets and even gasoline. The only thing they are guaranteed is a clear spot of ground to pitch their tents on.
They have already been assigned to over a dozen staging areas, where they will be given work orders and sent out into devastated communities in groups of 10. Volunteers will help members of the Church and their neighbors and pay special attention to the families of police officers, firemen, hospital staff and other emergency workers.
“We’ve found a community recovers more quickly if we can help these crucial people get back on their feet and back to work,†said Area Welfare Manager Bennie Lilly. “After that, we divide the rest of the community into grids and canvas door-to-door to make sure we haven’t missed anyone.â€
The needs volunteers are facing will be different depending on the area they are assigned. In the north, they will be clearing downed trees and power lines, but because of the storm surge along the coast, volunteers there will be removing mud, drywall and carpet and disinfecting homes.
Anderson says the Church help is planned for the long-term. “This will take the whole nation’s best efforts,†he said. “This is not going to be a matter of offering a little help, and then leaving.â€
Meanwhile, volunteers are keeping a close eye on the latest weather reports and Tropical Storm Ophelia, which is heading for Florida this weekend.
Church Response to Date
• Delivered over 40 truckloads of commodities and relief supplies to the Church’s permanent distribution and supply center and other facilities in the affected area.
• Delivered and dispensed fuel.
• Provided supplies and volunteer assistance for evacuees in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, Utah and Idaho.
• Sheltered 4,000 people in 20 buildings.
This is great, Geoff. Thanks for the press release; I like knowing more specifics of what is happening to help. I’m even more impressed that all these volunteers are going to be self-sufficient.
This is great, Geoff. What about the missionaries assigned to the New Orleans area and others close by? Do you know if the church encourages them to take time out from their proselyting to volunteer?
My understanding is that all of the missionaries in the affected areas were evacuated before the hurricane. I would imagine that some have returned to some of the areas and are helping out in various different ways, depending on direction from their mission presidents. During the hurricanes in Florida last year, the missionaries were almost all assigned to shelters, where they helped out in serving food and carrying stuff — anything to help. They did NOT prosyletize at the shelters but many conversions did take place because of the contact with the missionaries. My home teaching companion is a guy who lives on a boat in Florida who was converted because he met the missionaries and befriended them and then called them up after he left the shelter because he wanted the discussions.
I’ve also been very impressed with the response.
In fact, I’ve been working with some friends in my ward to put together a hurricane fundraiser, with all of the proceeds going to the church Humanitarian Services Emergency Response fund. It’s a combination silent auction/yard sale/bake sale.
You can find more information about it here:
If any of you live in Utah and are interested in participating, please let me know! I apologize if this isn’t the appropriate place for this. If so, then admin, please delete it. Thank you!
Sue, we may have already had this conversation online, but… you live in Highland? That’s where I grew up, and my parents still live there. They’re in the 12th ward. I love that ward, even though – due to the numerous ward and stake splits – it is nothing like the ward I grew up in.
Yes, I do. I’m not in the 12th ward, but I do have an amazing ward. I really love it here. It’s a fantastic place for kids. I don’t think we’ll ever move again…
Does anyone have a sense for how the LDS efforts compare with the efforts of other churches and/or congregations? How about a comparison of relief efforts officially organized/conducted by the church with relief efforts independently organized/conducted by stakes or wards? I’ve often wondered whether the church’s humanitarian efforts were respectable in light of reasonable assumptions about the church’s wealth, including tithing donations and fast offerings, even with an offset for the costs associated with a 12 million member, international church. That is, does the church provide enough humanitarian aid or could it do much more?
SFW, I think accurate information comparing LDS relief efforts to those of other congregations would be difficult to get. I can tell you that in the case of hurricanes, the Church is usually the first relief agency overall to arrive. It often beats the Red Cross and certainly other churches. For Hurricane Andrew in 1992 in Miami, the Church was far ahead of most other reliefs agencies and all other churches. I think at the end of the day our relief efforts for Katrina will be seen in a very positive light I have not seen criticism that we are not doing enough or are not focused on the right kinds of areas, but I’m sure such critics are out there murmuring away.
SWF, I have lived in many different counties, on five continents, and I can assure you that the Church’s humanitarian efforts are way more than respectable. Not only does the Church respond quickly and appropriately to large scale emergencies, but the Area Presidencies in interational areas are involved in humanitarian efforts in an on-going fashion. In addition, local stakes and wards in all the places we have lived have continually sought ways of helping community charitable organizations through donations of goods and services. The general Church membership only hears the details of a small fraction of all the good works that are fostered and carried out by the Church, and faithful members, in cooperation with other humanitarian agencies. Whether it be a flood in Mexico, an earthquake in Peru, a tsunami in the Far East, or hurricanes in the Dominican Republic or the U.S., organized priesthood leaders, with support from Church headquarters, will be in the forefront of relief efforts. The wonderful things accomplished may not usually make the headlines, but they make a huge difference to those who are succored in their time of need.
I just read on a blog called Iraq the Model that Iraqi soldiers had given a million dinars to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Oh, you guys, in a perfect world.
Somebody somewhere on the blog said once something about imagining heaven as the best family time you ever had. If I think like that, I could think a little more positively about the Celestial Kingdom.
Is this a press release, or an independent report? Not to be too cynical, but press releases are just press releases.
It’s an Iraqi blog called Iraq the Model. I think that’s the name.
http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/
A family I go to church with has a son serving in New Orlenes. At least he was serving in NO…From the little bit I heard he is currently living out of a stake center and operating a chain saw to aid in clean up efforts (mom wasn’t too hip on the chain saw idea). 🙂
He’s loving it.
Whoops…Sorry on the spelling…Fingers are faster than the brain at times.
(For the sake of clarification, I’m not the same Randy in #11, though I have at least a partial answer to his question.)
This weekend I went down to Mississippi with one of the stakes in Georgia to help with the hurricane recovery efforts. We were assigned to Columbia, Mississippi, which is about 100 miles north of Gulfport. As the press release indicates, we were told that over 10,000 people had volunteered to help with the recovery efforts and that we were the first to go.
The damage in Columbia, while significant in places, was not as bad as I had expected. We were told that the winds there got up to 140 miles per hour, but most of the homes and businesses seemed to be in pretty good shape — unless they had the misfortune of getting in the way of a falling tree, or stood in the path of a tornado spun off by the huricane. As you might expect, road and business signs did not fare as well as sturdier buildings. At the local Shell gas station, the hurricane had stripped away all but a small portion of one sign, leaving in large letters — “hell”.
By the time we arrived, most of the heavy work had already been done. The roads had been cleared, and the large trees laying in local living rooms had been removed. Interestingly, local businesses were booming — it was hard to even find a parking spot at Walmart. McDonalds was packed.
As stated in the press release, the teams that went were in fact self-sufficient — we brought our own food, water, tools, and tents. We slept on the church lawn. (We did, thankfully, get to use the church’s bathroom and shower.) Because far more people showed up than had been anticipated (250 vs. 150), many of us were tasked with roaming the local neighborhoods and helping anyone we found who needed it. As a result, the efforts of our 7-person team were a bit random. Some clearly needed the help; others, in all likelihood, had simply avoided the expense or hassle of removing the trees themselves.
At the end of the weekend, we were told that we had completed about three times as much work as they had originally hoped and that the highest priorities had all been addressed. Still, I could not help but worry that we might have been in the wrong place, that the real work to be done was closer to the coast. The conditions in Columbia did not square with the devastating pictures that I had seen on TV. I wanted to be where the real action was, where whole cities had been shaken up. I hope the hardest hit areas are getting the help they need.
During the drive back to Atlanta, we saw a steady stream of utility trucks of every variety heading further south. Let me second Geoff’s call for volunteers. There clearly remains much work to be done.
Incidently, I only saw two missionaries while we were there. It was on Sunday morning during the 20-minute sacrament meeting. They were in suits and ties. I don’t know if they had been working on cleanup efforts or not.
Randy, good for you. It’s a 15-hour drive for us from Miami to the affected areas. We may go sometime in October. Your experience sounds pretty much like ours last summer. People really appreciate your efforts, and it makes you feel better to do something.
It does sound like the areas along the gulf were the worst hit. Take a look at these photos.
One simple question: how do I volunteer? I live in Ohio, and my bishop doesn’t seem to know anything about this.
Paul, what usually happens is that the stake organizes relief efforts based on needs and proximity to the emergency. It’s possible that Ohio is not close enough and that there is not an effort being organized in your stake. You could call SLC church public affairs at 800-453-3860 and ask for the public affiars person organizing the relief effort. He or she may be able to help you join a team that is traveling there from another stake. Good luck!
Paul, I know people going this weekend. If you are interested, let me know and I’ll put you in contact with them. You can email me at rbutterfield at kslaw dot com. If you’d prefer to go another weekend, your best bet is probably calling the public affairs number.