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Our
Churches Respond
Greek
Orthodox Church
Hurricane Relief
By Dee Nicolaou
Hurricane
Katrina Relief Chairperson
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” Isaiah 43:2
The devastation and destruction wrought by
hurricanes in our Metropolis of Atlanta that encompasses eight states
and sixty-seven parishes for the past two years is almost unimaginable.
The distress and need of all our brothers and sisters affected by these
natural disasters is immense. We prayed that God would give us the
wisdom, strength and resources to alleviate the sufferings of our poor
brothers and sisters.
Distributions centers were set up in the
Biloxi, Mobile, Baton Rogue and other areas to help all those in need.
Supplies were shipped from all over the United States to these
distribution points.
Dee Nicolaou,
the Metropolis of Atlanta Philoptochos (friends of the poor needy and
suffering) President was appointed by His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios
of Atlanta to be the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Chairman, and as
the contact point and liaison between IOCC and the Red Cross, as well as
our Archdiocesan agencies who wished to offer their aid and to
distribute collected funds in a timely manner.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese set up the
Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Fund, which is being used to address
the needs of the Greek Orthodox communities, as well as for assisting
the general relief efforts through out the South.
The Hurricane
Katrina Disaster Relief Fund has collected funds in excess of $900,000.
In addition to this fund, the Archdiocese, the National Philoptochos
Society and Leadership 100 has made a generous contribution of $250,000
to International Orthodox Christian Charities for their efforts to help
our fellow man Orthodox and Non - Orthodox.
To date, the Archdiocese and the
Metropolis of Atlanta has distributed over $500,000 to our fellow
Orthodox brothers and sisters in Christ with more claims being processed
everyday. In order to help as many people as possible, it was necessary
to set guidelines. The current guidelines were established to help those
with the most needs first. The guidelines are as follows:
1.To
help those who have no insurance or lack of necessary coverage
2.To
help those who have total loss of income
3.To
help those who need money for rent or temporary housing
4.To
help those who cannot pay their insurance deductibles
The Greek
Orthodox National Philoptochos Society are humbled and grateful to be
able to assist a number of our Orthodox brothers and sisters with
temporary housing expenses, as well as the purchasing of major necessary
appliances, through their donation of $98,000 towards the Katrina
Disaster Relief Fund.
Philoptochos’ help is far from over as the crisis is ongoing and
continuous to help to provide the hope, the trust, and the confidence
that the lives of these families will be improved with their support and
assistance. The rebuilding of this hope, this trust, and this confidence
may be accomplished through the National Philoptochos Society Adopt a
Family Project.
This
voluntary project addresses the immediate, short, and long-term needs of
primarily the Orthodox victims of the Gulf Coast tragedy. After a long
and arduous process to locate all the families in need, a list was
compiled with information about the families, along with a registry of
their basic needs. The needs are vital, necessary and large beyond
imagination. Most of the families have lost everything we take for
granted on a day-to-day basis. The needs include sheets and towels,
dining and kitchen implements, small appliances, kitchen, bedroom and
living room furnishings, clothing, bedding, toys, books and calling
cards.
The churches or Philoptochos chapters (approx 500 in the United States)
would like to assist and support this project by sponsoring a family,
they can do so with a donation of the actual item(s)in need or a gift
card to stores, such as, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Bed Bath and Beyond, Circuit
City, Belk’s, Sears, JC Penney's, Dillard’s, Old Navy, Winn-Dixie Food
Stores, Toy's R Us, Home Depot, Lowe’s, or an American Express gift
certificates.
Also, we
are working with people who have special needs to see that their needs
are met. We are sending depends, wheelchairs, bath and tub supports,
lifting recliner chairs, walkers and any other medically necessary
items.
While
the devastation was great and many people were impacted by this tragedy,
there has been an overwhelming national response of love and concern
from all religions that are united in our mission to help the less
fortunate. Thank you for letting the Greek Orthodox Church be part of
this special commission to rebuild the Gulf Region.
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