Jackson Free Press

The air in St. Andrew's kitchen is filled with the heady aroma of garlic and roasting chicken as a dozen volunteers prepare meals for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

"We've been up here 24 hours a day since Monday," says Rev. Emma Connelly of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. The strain of long hours is evident in the faces of all the volunteers at work in the kitchen, but there is also the quiet happiness that comes from knowing they are helping those in need.

In the first hours following the passage of Hurricane Katrina, while many of us were still just coming to grips with the scope of the disaster, volunteers with the Episcopal and Lutheran churches were already in action. As people displaced from the Gulf Coast arrived at the Mississippi Coliseum and Trade Mart, members of the Episcopal Church met them with hot meals and bottled water.

"The first time we went to the Trade Mart, we saw that they were in desperate need of food and water. Since then, we've had the kitchen going full-time," says Robert Connelly, the pastor's husband. He estimates that they've fed 3,000 to 4,000 people.

And they've fed them well, serving spinach stuffed shells, spinach Madeline, roast pork loin, beef tips and noodles, lasagna, chicken gumbo, succotash, banana bread, brownies, ham and bean soup, and much more. Much of the food was prepared with perishable supplies donated by Jacksonians.

Ken Bartosek, state coordinator of Lutheran and Episcopal Disaster Response, has spent the last week living with his family in Ascension Lutheran Church while he coordinates the relief effort. He volunteered for his position only six months ago, and he says the last week has been a crash course in logistics and supply.

"We've had everything from hygiene kits to cleaning supplies to medicine come in from people all over the country. We organize the supplies, load them onto trucks, and then send them on to staging areas in Hattiesburg, Laurel and Ocean Springs."

He and other volunteers have also directed supplies of water and ice to shelters in Jackson. As we spoke, he fielded a call from a woman driving down from Ohio. She planned to stop in Nashville to buy aspirin, antibiotics and other medicine, which Bartosek said he would direct to Ocean Springs.

Supplies and money have come in from all over the country. Rev. Connelly sent out e-mails requesting supplies that have been forwarded all across the nation. "The response we've gotten still makes my head swim. We've had calls from just about every state," she says.

Bartosek says he's received donations from North and South Carolina, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri and Florida, among other states. "Every phone call I get lifts my spirits and strengthens my faith in humanity," Bartosek says.

On Saturday, the relief effort began to grow beyond those in shelters to Jacksonians who are in need. "We got a call from the city's action line telling us there was a family of five on Glenn Ave. who had no food, water or ice. When we got out there to help them, we realized that there was no food, water or ice anywhere in the neighborhood. As we get more calls, we'll keep going out to help as many people as we can," Robert Connelly says.

The relief effort is not only a matter of providing comfort and supplies to those who have suffered most from Katrina's wrath. Sometimes, what victims need most is information. Bartosek has directed refugees to shelters, and on Saturday he helped a woman from Long Beach who'd been out of contact with the world since Monday. In a rare moment when her cell phone worked, the woman called a friend in West Virginia, who in turn called Bartosek. The woman in Long Beach had not seen anyone from the police, FEMA or any other authority in the days that followed the storm, and she simply wanted to know where to flee. Bartosek, who is also an amateur radio operator, was able to direct her to safety. He says that in the coming weeks, ham radio operators will fan out throughout the disaster area to coordinate relief efforts and help refugees reunite with their loved ones.

The volunteers, who say they draw their strength from faith, are unanimous in their modesty. In fact, many of the volunteers at St. Andrew's declined to provide their names. "We don't want the focus to be on us," Rev. Connelly says. "This is about the people who need help."

Bartosek agrees. "We're blessed here to have so much. We have to help those who are less fortunate. I just want to thank everyone who has given of themselves to help. We might be one of the poorest states in the country, but we've held together, and together we're gonna make it through this," he says.

Those interested in volunteering or donating supplies should call Ascension Lutheran at 601-956-4263 or St. Andrew's at 601-948-5954. Monetary donations should be directed to the Episcopal Diocese at P.O. Box 23107, Jackson, MS, 39225.

Previous Comments

ID

84367

Comment

St. Andrew's is such a fantastic congregation, and does so much wonderful work on behalf of the poor and marginalized. The kindness everyone shows to folks--from those affected by these tragedies to regularhomeless walk-ins--is phenomenal. I do feel the need to make one correction: (601) 948 5954 is actually the number for the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi. The number for St. Andrew's is (601) 354 1535, though the diocese might actually be the best place to phone about this (the staff at St. Andrew's has been hard at work since Katrina hit). Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-09-10T00:44:52-06:00