The Mississippi Katrina Mission Team from ELPC—Don Addlespurger, Marilyn Castle, Wil Forrest, Karen Fraser, Jules Golz, Joe Hadju, Kristina Hout, Jon Nelson, Cathy Regush, Kurt Regush and Clark Smith—left Pittsburgh on Friday, April 21 and headed for Longbeach, Mississippi to assist the community there affected by the Katrina disaster. They arrived Saturday, April 22, at the Longbeach Presbyterian Church, the contact church coordinating the efforts of the teams sent there to help. The folks from ELPC met up with four other visiting teams, two from Pennsylvania, o
ne from Connecticut and one from Illinois.
Each day, teams were assembled and work assignments were given depending on what needed to be done and what was a priority that day. Job tasks included both inside and outside work such as putting up new dry-wall and insulation, yard repair work and cleanup, gardening and cutting down damaged trees. The work was hard and the weather was hot, but everyone was in good spirits doing God’s work helping to put back the lives of those affected by the disaster. At the suggestion of the host church, the ELPC team took one day to view the damage of some of the hardest hit areas, including a visit to New Orleans to see the devastation there. The team returned to Pittsburgh on April 30.
Thanks to all those who attended our two Katrina fundraisers to help send the ELPC team to Mississippi—the April 1 car wash which raised $1,280 and the April 9 Palm Sunday pancake breakfast which raised $973. In addition, direct donations were also made by the Pittsburgh Presbytery, the Synod and others. Thanks again to all for your incredible support.
