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Hurricane Katrina Relief Update
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From Dean Stewart, for the Katrina Disaster Relief Committee, Starkville Church of Christ: You and Christian Relief are so generous to this work! God is truly working through you to meet these needs. Thank you and all your supporters for the work that you do and your generosity to us.

July 2006 Update:
"We have made numerous work trips, including a group of teens going to Mobile, Alabama, and Mississippi areas in July for a week long work camp. Late in July a family trip is planned. We just sent about $21,000 worth of sheet rock, insulation, and other building materials to Pascagoula, MS, and Port Sulphur, LA. $10,000 worth of sheet rock and insulation was sent to Bay St. Louis. Christian Relief Fund, Amarillo, has given us $85,000.
Our University Christian Student Center college students have completed numerous (10 plus) work trips to Pascagoula, where they delivered supplies, cleaned debris, visited with neighbors, and mucked houses.We have worked through many church bodies and members between Starkville and the Gulf Coast including: Picayune, Bay St. Louis, Ellisville, Pearlington, Pascagoula, Biloxi, Long Beach, Ocean Springs, & Laurel, MS and Baton Rouge & Port Sulphur, LA.

"Some are still aggressively rebuilding the physical infrastructure of their communities. Thanks to you and many others we have been able to support the relief effort with $500,000 in monetary and in-kind donations and we have disbursed all but $50,000 of this. We plan to continue as long as we can, for the need is there. You all have been such a blessing to us. With much love and thanks," -Dean Stewart

An earlier report from Dean Stewart:

In some cases, great progress is being made and it is very evident. Houses are being rebuilt and Bible studies and churches have begun in some of the most devastated areas in Mississippi.
In others, the landscape and people seem little changed. Some news is still heartbreaking. I just got off the phone with a gentleman from the Chalmette area. He and his wife and two kids have been living in a hotel in Starkville since September. His wife is pregnant, and they lost everything in the storm. He is a roofer, and he had a good business in his community.
I asked him why he wasn't rebuilding his business with the tremendous need for roofers and boom in building. He told me he couldn't go back home because there was nothing left, the insurance was not paying off, and FEMA was only hitting the high points. He then went on to tell me that the compelling reason he could not go home was that after the storm, he carried the bodies of his dead parents and sister in a boat for three days before he could find help. I cannot imagine what he has been/is going through. These and others like them are the kind of people you are helping.

Most recently, when we have asked our Christian contacts along the coast, they responded their most urgent needs were building materials, since a number of homes have been mucked out and only need to be re-insulated, wired, and sheet-rocked to make them livable again. Some have requested roofing shingles and felt. These items are costly, and we have been able to send several large truckloads to these locations.We have been sending work teams down to these locations, and so we know first-hand that they are doing the work that needs to be done.

Some congregations have received money from benevolent organizations but cannot get the supplies in quantities they need locally, so we are splitting expenses, paying for all ourselves, or working with them however they need.
Also, we have a contact here who is working hard to get the very best prices on sheetrock, nails, insulation, and other supplies. We have been able to beat most any price I have checked around the Southeast. A load of sheetrock and insulation costs $10,000-11,000 depending on how the prices are at the time.

The food requirements have drastically slowed down, though we are working to coordinate a meat shipment for a church actively housing and feeding workers. At present, only specialized types of clothing are needed. We have a tremendous supply of nice clothing that was sent to us from all over. We have provided Walmart cards, food, water, clothing, tools, drywall, screws, mud, tape, blankets, personal hygiene kits, tools, and labor for cooking, cleaning, distribution of supplies, roofing, supply delivery, etc.

We have some donations still coming in, but your support has been and continues to be our major source of money, and money remains the number one needed physical item. Again, I and many others appreciate your dedicated service to the Lord.

One of the first responses to help CRF sent:
Thank you - thank you for the generous assistance of $10,000 . . .
We are averaging 400 people per day who are seeking assistance from our church and we have transformed our building into a distribution center for the evacuees. Upon arrival they are offered assistance for physical needs, spiritual guidance and prayer . . .

We are providing groceries, clothing, toys, hot meals for lunch and dinner and $40.00 Wal-Mart gift cards per family. In addition, we are assisting them with FEMA registrations, public school enrollment, healthcare and locating missing family members.
As you know, these people are in desperate need. Our prayer is that we can help them in some way and show them the compassion of Jesus Christ. We are in this for the long haul. Our plans are to assist the evacuees until the need abates. -Bob Cayce, Elder, Clear Lake Church of Christ, Houston, TX

The following are places where CRF is helping. More will be added:
1. Houston churches who are helping to feed and shelter people who came to the Houston area to escape the storm. This is in addition to the Astrodome and Superdome folks. These Houston churches anticipate feeding 500 or 600 people for an indefinite period of time, with numbers growing.
2. Six reliable contacts among churches in Mississippi who are trying to meet the needs of people from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.
3. Greenwell Springs Church of Christ, near Baton Rouge, who are aiding victims.
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