Responding to Hurricane Katrina
While LSS is not playing a
major, front-line role in responding to the physical and human losses
resulting from Hurricane Katrina, there are "LSS people" who are engaged
in the recovery efforts. Here are four.
Hildred Dungan
Hildred is a member of the LSS Advancement Committee. A retired executive
with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Dungan joined up with the Red Cross
as a disaster service volunteer. When the call came on a Monday to help
with Hurricane Katrina, she packed her bags and left within two hours.
Less than two days later, she and another woman had driven an Emergency
Response Vehicle (ERV) to Montgomery, Alabama for registration and, then,
on to serving meals in Mobile by nightfall on Wednesday. For the next
three weeks, Dungan slept in church Sunday school rooms or gymnasiums with
only an air mattress and blankets. "We were so tired, after working
14-hours days, that it didn't matter where we slept," she said.
"From our ERV, we served
500 lunches and another 500 dinners each day," Dungan explained. "Our
whole team of five ERVs served 5,000 meals a day, good meals with meat,
vegetables and fruit; it's all very well organized."
Her advice for others who
want to help during disaster response: "Get training and experience
locally. Be prepared for what you will face. The work is emotionally
rewarding, but you have to stay functional and not cave in."
Janette Grazzini
Janette, an LSS mental health therapist in the
St. Paul Counseling Office, was so touched by the plight of the hurricane
survivors, she called the Red Cross and, within days, was on a plane to
counsel survivors of the hurricane. Her experiences follow.
"With all that I was seeing
and hearing, I felt that I needed to go," said Janette. She had heard of
the need for mental health workers on the Gulf Coast, so Janette used two
weeks of her vacation time to help out.
During the first part of
her duty as a Red Cross volunteer in Gulfport, Miss., Janette worked with
volunteers in the Red Cross Service Center, counseling people who needed
help, and also counseling volunteers, who were working long hours and who
were becoming overwhelmed by the suffering they were confronting.
Janette tells the story of
a family of six who had lost their trailer home in the hurricane. "They
swam out of the back door of the trailer, and found refuge in trees until
they were rescued some five hours later," she explained. All six are now
living together in a small FEMA trailer as they plan out the next steps of
their lives.
She tells of another woman
who was saved by a boat that her son had left in her yard prior to his
death in 1985. The rising water lifted the boat from its cradle and
brought her and her neighbors to a nearby house that had a second story
where they could wait for help.
"It was a wonderful
experience," Jeanette said. "I met kind, kind volunteers from just about
everywhere in the U.S. and Canada, from ages 18 to 82. They were all eager
to help out."
Melanie Davis, LSS
Director of Disaster Services
"How can we help the children?" is a question many churches and
organizations across the country have asked, after seeing the disturbing
images of destruction and trauma following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Since 1997, Camp Noah has been providing the unique gift of intentional
outreach to assist children in their long journey of emotional and
spiritual recovery following natural disasters. A program praised for its
effectiveness in a 2004 study sponsored by the Center for Disease Control
and Prevention, Camp Noah is a fun-filled, faith-based, week-long day camp
for children in kindergarten through sixth grades who have experienced
disaster. When the Minnesota and Red Rivers flooded in 1997, Melanie
created Camp Noah, a special summer camp for kids affected by the floods.
The camp was designed to help kids deal with the loss and fear associated
with that 1997 disaster.
"The Camp Noah curriculum
and volunteer system is being requested by numerous disaster-impacted
communities as a means to help their children, said Melanie. In an effort
to meet the needs of thousands of children, congregations and
organizations across the country are being asked to help sponsor a week of
Camp Noah for summer 2006. Groups can provide the crucial volunteer
leadership needed for a week and/or provide financial or in-kind support.
To find out more about how your group can help provide a week-long gift of
healing and hope that will last a lifetime, visit
www.campnoah.org ,
call 1-800-987-0061, or e-mail
campnoah@lssmn.org Group sponsorships are needed by December 15, 2005.
Bill and Dee Nord
Bill and Dee Nord, long-time LSS donors and volunteer leaders, knew of
the work that LSS had done with children following other disasters. So
they were quick to offer a substantial gift to LSS to help with the costs
of organizing and operating Camp Noah next summer in Gulf Coast
communities. They knew that the children get lost in the activity of
finding shelter and food. "With the Camp Noah experience," Bill said, "we
are able to help kids come to grips with the trauma that comes with
natural disasters."
In addition to their own
gift, the Nords shared information about Camp Noah with the Minneapolis
Area Synod which, later, granted LSS $50,000. They also shared Camp Noah
information with their congregation, Calvary Lutheran Church in Golden
Valley, which made a $10,000 pledge to the effort.
