KATRINA RELIEF VOLUNTEER TEAM 2007 RETURNS HOME – TIRED BUT INSPIRED!

The Mission and Witness committee is pleased to announce that the team of 17 volunteers who traveled to New
Orleans from March 17-24, 2007 has returned home with many stories to tell – some heartbreaking and some
with very encouraging news. Our team included: Kathy Brown, Rev. Diane Hutchins, Tom Chase, Joyce Crane of
Manassas Presbyterian, Frank Gaspereni, Beth Hood, Randy Jackson, Jason Martin of Manassas, Jennifer Morris, Shirley Pearson, Bill Rule, Glenna Smith, Scott Smith, Kathi Stone, Lynne Travis of Purcellville, Dennis Upton and Susan Witte.

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It was a week of hard work, crowded living conditions, good fellowship with teammates and making new friends
from other Presbyterian Churches and in the South Louisiana Presbytery. We were hosted by the First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans. It is very slowly being restored and still shows a lot of storm damage. We found several empty rooms, formerly classrooms, with new carpet for our sleeping quarters. We arranged our air
mattresses and bags in very close quarters on the floors then found the outside showers built by previous volunteers and a large commercial kitchen with room for our breakfast and lunch supplies. On Saturday, Rev. Cliff Nunn took the group around the city for a very informative and eye-opening look at how the hurricane so devastated so many neighborhoods. Our team was able to attend Sunday morning worship there with Rev. Cliff Nunn and in the evening we attended a meeting of all the Presbyterian volunteer teams who would be working with Hosanna Industries in the planned “blitz” to finish several homes during our work week. We learned about the immediate and long-range plans the South Louisiana Presbytery has for rebuilding in their region.

Our work started early every morning at 8:00AM and ended between 4:30PM and 6:00PM. We traveled in our rental vans and a couple cars to the job sites and along the way got to see how deserted and forlorn many areas of the city remain. Most of the job sites we worked on were in the Gentilly and North East New Orleans areas. The waters were roughly up to the second floor/roof line on most homes in this area – it is still possible to see the water lines on homes throughout the city. We did some debris removal, a lot of scraping and painting, drywall hanging/finishing, hardware installation, carpet and floors installation, roofing repairs and many other tasks as we saw the need. Some of us actually learned some new skills. Many people commented that this experience in New Orleans was a lot like Christmas in April – just a lot longer! We learned to be flexible too as most days volunteers were sent over to other job sites to assist with drywall work or to the warehouse or building supply
store.

One of the most striking aspects of our experience in New Orleans was how quiet the streets seemed. Most of the houses in the neighborhoods where we worked were unoccupied and there were very few people, cars, pets, birds or street noise – all of the sounds of a vibrant community were missing.

We felt blessed to be able to meet two of the homeowners whose homes were finished and dedicated during our
work week. Their stories of survival and struggle were heartbreaking, but their joy and gratitude for having their
homes returned to them was very palpable. Our week concluded on Friday with a lovely New Orleans dinner prepared in the garden district home of Susan Witte’s aunt and uncle, Becky and Jim Moss. Here Rev. Hutchins led prayers of thanks and offered communion in recognition of a successful and blessed week of doing the Lord’s work. The seventeen volunteers were talented, productive, cooperative, inspired and good company – in other words – a fabulous team!

We want to thank all the generous folks who supported our mission team. Special thanks to the Presbyterian
Women for their very generous donation, Betty and Bob Lowenbach, Brenda Bengtson, Louise Brown, the LPC Youth Group who donated their pancake supper proceeds, Mary Lyn and Del Bourque of St. Andrew Presbyterian, Richard and Karolyn M. Whiteley of Faith Chapel Presbyterian and Manassas Presbyterian. Susan Witte’s mother, Suzanne Shelton, who donated a whole case of Girl Scout cookies to our team and very importantly, the congregation who supported us with their pledges and gifts to LPC. We were also pleased to receive corporate donations from Spectrum Brands of insect repellents and protective gear, Sherwin-Williams of painting tools and supplies, and Dr. Gregory DiRenzo of dental supplies.

The good news is that because of the many donations the Katrina Relief Team received, the Mission & Witness
committee will be able to continue to offer some financial support this year to other LPC members who volunteer for relief work in the United States. See our announcement regarding the May 2007 relief work blitz in Gulfport, MS. Plans are underway for a mission trip to the New Orleans or Gulf Coast area for March 2008. If you are interested in joining Bill Rule on the May 2007 mission trip or you would like to know more about upcoming mission trips, please contact Kathy Brown. Please join us for a slide presentation about our New Orleans experiences on Wednesday, May 9 at the 6:00 Wednesday night supper or at the Sunday, May 20th presentation and light lunch at 12N, both in the fellowship hall.