Hurricane Relief Effort

Tragedy struck next door last weekend as Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc in our region. As we continue to pray for the victims and relief workers, Fellowship Church is launching its response campaign by providing an area for online donations at FellowshipChurch.com as well as accepting donations of needed items throughout our four campuses. We are working directly with a Fellowship Connection church that is serving as a staging area for assistance relief in one of the hardest-hit areas. We are also aiding families within our church who have opened their doors to those who were forced to evacuate. It was recently announced that approximately 25,000 residents of the New Orleans area will be re-locating to Dallas/Ft. Worth this week.

We'd be interested to hear how your churches are reaching out to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Comments

[Tally]

We've (along with a few other Pastors) started an online staging area for volunteers called WeWillGo.net.
Because there will need to be a long-term sustained effort WeWillGo.net will help recruit groups to work with organizations and private citizens in the effected area.

We're also targeting several families of members who have needs. We will be assisting these families financially. In addition we are preparing to go to help repair a church building in Mississippi.

[Ben]

We had a relief effort drive at a local park on Labor Day. We had volunteers pass out over 5000 flyers to surrounding neighbors. Several businesses donated items for a silent auction. It was amazing to see so many people come off the streets to donate. We raked in around $20,000 - $25,000 worth of goods for a local church in Baton Rouge filling up a 17 foot UHaul. People are so willing to give but so unsure about how to go about doing it. Many folks walked up and wrote checks just wanting to contribute.

We set up a website at www.gracehelpinghand.com to track the progress of the relief effort.