2007 Mississippi trip for Hurricane Katrina repairs
A team of 34 people from Danville traveled to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, April 7-13, 2007. Representing 17 local congregatons, this team was composed of youth and adults from Mount Vernon, Grace Design, St. Luke's, and Wallace Memorial United Methodist Churches, along with youth from the George Washington High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Mount Vernon was represented by Carter Bauman, Collier Wiseman, Tom Savastano (construction coordinator), and Beth Bauman (trip coordinator). Our Danville team worked on four homes and a new distribution center for relief projects. Although we saw much improvement since we worked in the area last year, the statistics are sobering:
- 200,000 HOMES IN MISSISSIPPI WERE DAMAGED IN HURRICANE KATRINA
- 65,000 HOMES WERE TOTALLY DESTROYED
- OVER 100,000 MISSISSIPPIANS WERE LEFT LIVING IN FEMA TRAILERS AND THOUSANDS MORE WERE DISPLACED
- ONLY 15% OF THOSE AFFECTED ARE BACK IN THEIR HOMES
The people in southern Mississippi are very grateful for the assistance of thousands of volunteers working in their area. One neighborhood resident called out to our teenagers working on a roof, "Are you thirsty?" She returned shortly with a cooler full of drinks. A dentist treated one of our teens. Many people honked, waved, and called out their thanks as our crew labored on the roof.
Dec. 19, 2007, update:
According to USA Today, more than 655,000 people have volunteered in Katrina recovery since the storm, and 76 percent have been from faith-based groups. The top churches volunteering have been: (1) United Methodists, 56,656; (2) Lutherans, 26,585; (3) Southern Baptists, 25,136; (4) Presbyterians, 23,380; (5) Catholic Charities, 22,550. Hurricane Katrina survivors say they still need every volunteer. About 45,000 families in Louisiana and 19,000 in Mississippi still are living in trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
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© 2007 Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, 107 West Main Street; Danville, Virginia 24541
December 2007