Katrina Relief Effort News & Resources
I.O.C.C. thanks the Antiochian Community & St. George of Houston, TX
Date:10/1/05
Dear Father,
Once again we are thanking you for the exemplary and sacrificial generosity exhibited by the national Antiochian Community as well as by St. George Church here locally.
From the first day of this emergency when you made your church offices and parish house available to IOCC, to the ‘in kind’ contributions of health kits, school kits, food and other supplies sent in by all your parishes,
to the first donation of $150,000 from your Archdiocese and Metropolitan Phillip, to making your church hall available as a temporary shelter during Rita, and finally, to your next donation from the Archdiocese for $100,000
Metropolitan Philip, you, and your entire community around the nation have been a shining example of “philanthropia” , charity and love of our fellow man.
Your actions and those of the other Orthodox jurisdictions are an inspirational example of what the Orthodox community of this country can accomplish when it sets its mind on a task and when it undertakes organized and united action. The leadership of your community has been exemplary in that regard and I would like to thank you and Metropolitan Philip once again, from the bottom of my heart, on behalf of IOCC, but also on behalf of the thousands of people we have been able to help in great part due to your support.
Please pass my heartfelt “thank you” on to his Eminence and May God bless your Church, IOCC, and all of us as we continue our work in this emergency and as we continue to learn from His example.
Yours in Christ,
Lee Kapetanakis
IOCC Board Member and Disaster Relief volunteer.
Antiochian Archdiocese Donates $225,000 to IOCC for Hurricane Relief
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In behalf of the faithful of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP sent a second contribution in the amount of $100,000 to IOCC for hurricane relief. This brings the total Archdiocese contribution for the relief effort up to $225, 000.
September 26, 2005 In behalf of the faithful of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of |
Cloned pages are still being worked on
Hurricane Relief, Items Needed
Dear to Christ, Fathers and Brothers:
Blessings.
As you are certainly aware, the devastation from Hurricane Katrina is not limited to metro New Orleans nor even to the State of Louisiana. The lower one-third of the State of Mississippi has been severely impacted with many communities literally wiped from the face of the earth. FATHER JOHN HENDERSON of St Peter/Madison-Jackson, MS, and Dean of the Mississippi Valley Deanery, is now able to provide us with a list of items which may be collected in our parishes and shipped to the needy who have been evacuated to his area.
And again, your prayers - your fervent prayers.
+ B A S I L
Bishop of Wichita and Mid-America
Please send to:
St. Peter Orthodox Church
180 St. Augustine Dr.
Madison, MS 39110
The items must be sent by either UPS or FedEx, and must NOT require a signature for delivery.
LIST OF NEEDED ITEMS:
PROVIDED TO US BY FR JOHN HENDERSON
· Diapers
· Baby Formula
· Non-perishable food
· School supplies for children who have been displaced and have nothing (These children will be enrolled in the local school systems.) Pencils, paper, crayons, small scissors, manilla paper, folders with pockets in them, three-ringed binders, rulers, etc.
· Feminine hygeine supplies
· Non-perishable fruit juice (apple, cranberry,etc.) either in small individual containers or in large bottles
· Over-the-counter medications such as Pepto-Bismal, Advil, topical anticeptics such as neosporin
· New underwear of all sizes for men, women and children (Used underwear will not be accepted)
· Toiletries such as soap, deodorant, shampoo
· Towels
Appeal for Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund
August 30, 2005
TO BE READ FROM THE PULPIT
“Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need” (Acts 4:34-35)
Beloved Clergy and Faithful of our Archdiocese:
Greetings and blessings in the Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
As you all know, large areas along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina which besieged these coastal areas with tremendous winds and flooding. It is still too soon to have an accurate count of the death toll and the physical damage, but it is clear that the devastation is severe.
It has been, and always will be the policy of this God-protected Archdiocese to help our brothers and sisters around the world who have suffered from natural disasters. In this case, the need is at home. With this in mind, we make an emergency appeal to you for assistance for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. We ask you to take a special collection in your parishes on the Sundays of Sept. 4 and Sept. 11 and forward it to the Archdiocese headquarters immediately, marked “Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund”, so that we can do our share to try and ease some of the suffering.
Please be generous, keeping in mind the spirit of charity that existed in the early church as quoted above, and our accountability to our Lord for how we respond in times of need.
May the Almighty God continue to surround all of you with His love and heavenly protection.
Your father in Christ,
Metropolitan PHILIP
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America
Please pray for these parishes that were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Please continue to pray for these Orthodox Parishes that were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Antiochian Churches
St. Basil Antiochian Church, Metairie, LA
Fr. Peter Nugent and Parish
Greek Churches
Holy Trinity Cathedral, New Orleans, LA
Rev. Fr. Anthony Stratis and Parish
Holy Trinity Chapel, Biloxi, MS
Annunciation Church, Mobile, AL
Rev. Fr. James Cleondis and Parish
St. Athanasios Chapel, Gulf Shores, AL
V. Rev. Frank Paul Mayernick and Parish
Teen SOYO Katrina Relief Effort
Cloned pages are still being worked on
ECUMENICAL TEAM EVACUATES HUNDREDS FROM NEW ORLEANS AIRPORT
SCOBA, 8 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10021
9/6/2005
INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES (IOCC)
110 West Road, Suite 360, Baltimore, Md. 21204 — Tel: (410) 243-9820 — Fax: (410) 243-9824
Web: www.iocc.org - E-mail: news@iocc.org
BATON ROUGE, LA. (IOCC) - An ecumenical response team made up of personnel from International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) negotiated their way from Baton Rouge, La. to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport during the early hours of Sunday morning to evacuate 340 people in need of urgent medical care.
Along the way, the group described the heroic efforts of countless people - from the bus drivers who made the journey to medical personnel at the airport - and the frayed nerves of people doing their best to cope and survive.
The airport’s baggage claim area, serving as a triage facility where hundreds of people were receiving attention from medical personnel, was crowded with stretchers on carousels, the wheelchair bound, and people with broken limbs and other ailments.
Medical staff at the airport expressed relief at the sight of buses which took those in need of medical attention to the Louisiana State University Field Hospital in Baton Rouge, La. Physicians at the airport recounted the 36 hour period prior to their arrival when attempts made by other buses to access the facility had been turned away.
Traveling in a convoy of ten school buses provided through the Disaster Recovery Center and accompanied by students from local universities, the team made its way to the airport through complete darkness and uncertainty during a journey that was at times made tense by the lack of clear communication on the ground – especially at the checkpoints.
“As we approached New Orleans there was a stench in the air,” described Leonidas “Lee” Kapetanakis, an IOCC Emergency Response team member from Houston, Texas. “It was an eerie scene as we negotiated our way through four checkpoints, escorted by military personnel and police officers.”
The operation began as an effort to evacuate a group of 300 Vietnamese who reportedly were stranded at the airport. Based on the information they had, the team met with officials at the Disaster Recovery Center in Baton Rouge to organize their transportation.
When the group arrived at the airport, they found that only 15 Vietnamese remained, but that there was an immense need to relocate more than 2,500 people with medical needs.
As the team returned to Baton Rouge with 340 of the sick and injured, the uncertainty of the journey and concern for the fate of those left behind turned to hope when they passed as many as one hundred buses headed toward the airport. By the next day the impasse had been broken and nearly all of the medical patients had been transported from the make-shift facilities at the baggage terminal to the field hospital.
The group’s efforts were spearheaded by Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans chief executive officer Jim Kelly, who himself was displaced from his home by Hurricane Katrina’s onslaught. Kelly was supported by former CRS executive and IOCC consultant Frank Carlin, Rev. Fr. Peter-Michael Preble of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of America, head of disaster response for CRS Pat Johns, IOCC disaster response team member Leonidas Kapetanakis and Rev. Fr. Pham a Roman Catholic priest and medical doctor.
In addition to the evacuation, the interfaith effort is warehousing and distributing relief arriving to Baton Rouge. Hygiene items, oral electrolyte solutions for children and adults, diapers, water, food, blankets and hygiene kits have been provided by the collective efforts of the group.
“This is an incredibly inspirational ecumenical effort here in Baton Rouge,” said Frank Carlin, a former CRS executive with 37 years of domestic disaster and international relief and development experience who is working with the IOCC Emergency Response Team and Catholic Charities. “In addition to the convoy, we are providing ongoing aid to those who have been displaced from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and filling gaps in services.”
Contributions to IOCC’s Hurricane Disaster Response Fund may be sent to IOCC, “Hurricane Relief,” P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225. Donations may also be made online at www.iocc.org or by calling toll-free 1-877-803-IOCC (4622).
Founded in 1992, IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA). Catholic Charities in the United States started in New Orleans and has been helping clothe, feed, educate and care for the needy for decades. CRS, founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States, is the official international relief and development agency of the US Catholic community.
Houston Orthodox Christian Community Responds To Hurricane Survivors
September 12, 2005
Houston, Texas (IOCC) — Orthodox Christians in Texas have worked tirelessly since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast to deliver emergency supplies, welcome those displaced from neighboring states and partner with International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) to provide relief to the region.
“The devastating hurricane which has ravaged the Gulf Coast states of our country… is a reminder to all of us that tragedies in the world are dramatically increasing and that one’s life can be taken in the twinkling of an eye,” wrote Metropolitan Isaiah of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Denver in a letter to parishes encouraging them to respond through IOCC.
Orthodox parishes in the Metropolis of Denver and throughout the United States have collected funds for the effort and prepared health kits for the hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee the devastated region.
Just days after the hurricane, when people were retreating from New Orleans, Leon Vezos organized a shipment of emergency items and headed to Baton Rouge, La. After loading a truck with water and Gatorade over the Labor Day holiday weekend, Vezos personally drove the supplies which were distributed to rural communities in and around Alexandria, La.
Fr. Gabriel Karambis, Dean of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, where Vezos is a member, has encouraged Orthodox Christians in the community to join in the effort and made available the resources of his parish. Orthodox Christians throughout the city have worked to prepare additional supplies for transfer to Baton Rouge, La. The effort resulted in truckload of urgently-needed diapers, water, Gatorade, clothes and health kits.
Houston, along with Baton Rouge, La. and Mobile, Ala., has become a center for IOCC operations where staff from its Emergency Response Network is coordinating aid to survivors of the disaster.
The IOCC Emergency Response Center in Houston is hosted by St. George Antiochian Church, which is providing office, storage space, and accommodations for the IOCC staff.
IOCC’s emergency response network, comprised of trained Orthodox clergy and their U.S. parish communities, provides emergency services to people struggling to recover from natural or man-made disasters.
Contributions to IOCC’s Hurricane Disaster Response Fund may be sent to IOCC, “Hurricane Relief,”
P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225. Donations may also be made online at www.iocc.org or by calling toll-free 1-877-803-IOCC (4622).
Founded in 1992, IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA).
IOCC Hurricane Response Turns To Long-Term Recovery Efforts
September 14, 2005
Houston, Texas (IOCC) — With displaced families relocating from massive shelters to long-term accommodations and children finding placements in schools, some semblance of normalcy is returning for people displaced by the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.
“It continues to be an evolving situation, but national and community agencies that traditionally meet local needs are responding with food, shelter and clothing,” reported Frank Carlin of the IOCC Emergency Response Team in Houston, Texas. “Increasingly, our efforts are focusing on meeting unmet emergency needs – people who need to fill prescriptions, providing transportation, helping people purchase eyeglasses and the like.”
IOCC aid workers note that the human toll of the disaster and process of recovery will take years.
“People are dying mentally and spiritually from the pressure of having lost everything and from the depression that has ultimately resulted,” observed one displaced person living in a shelter in Morganza, La. that has been served by IOCC.
The IOCC relief efforts will continue to evolve as the needs of those who have been displaced change.
With humanitarian efforts in the Gulf Coast shifting to long-term recovery, IOCC announced today that it will no longer be accepting additional donations of material aid for the Hurricane Katrina victims and asks that future donations be restricted to monetary contributions.
Emergency Response personnel reported that shipments received and others already in transit will allow IOCC to continue the distribution of basic supplies for the immediate future.
IOCC will continue to accept personal hygiene and school kits as part of its ongoing “Gift of the Heart” program run in cooperation with Church World Service (CWS). The kits should be sent to the CWS warehouse in New Windsor, Md. The address and required contents of the kits may be found on IOCC’s website at www.iocc.org/kits. Kits cannot be accepted directly by the IOCC teams in Baton Rouge, La., Houston, Texas or Mobile, Ala.
Contributions to IOCC’s Hurricane Disaster Response Fund may be sent to IOCC, “Hurricane Relief,” P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225. Donations may also be made online at www.iocc.org or by calling toll-free 1-877-803-IOCC (4622).
Founded in 1992, IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA).
For media inquiries, please contact IOCC at
Vlade Divac Supports IOCC
September 16, 2005
Baltimore (IOCC) — A truckload of relief supplies destined for children and families displaced by Hurricane Katrina was delivered by National Basketball Association All-Star Vlade Divac to an International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) Emergency Response Center hosted by St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Houston on Thursday.
photos courtesy: vlade divac/group seven children’s foundation
Divac, who spearheaded an effort to collect humanitarian supplies in Sacramento, Calif., where he played for five years with the Sacramento Kings, drove for two days to personally deliver the provisions to Houston, Texas.
The truckload of items included baby supplies, diapers, bedding, toys, water, personal toiletries and other supplies.
“I am especially concerned for of all of the innocent children who have suffered from this disaster,” said Divac as he delivered the aid to a team of IOCC workers and clergy at the relief center. “The devastation caused by this hurricane reminds me of the destruction caused by war in my homeland.”
A group of more than 260 Vietnamese children and adults who were displaced from New Orleans by the devastating storm received the much-needed items in a distribution which took place the same day at the St. Catherine Convent in Houston, Texas. The convent, now serving as a shelter, has hosted the group for the past two weeks.
In the days since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, the IOCC Emergency Response Network has provided essential humanitarian assistance to families displaced in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Assistance has included tons of water, food, personal hygiene articles, diapers and other baby care items, blankets, air mattresses, bedding and other emergency needs.
Named one of Sporting News’ “Good Guys,” Vlade Divac has been committed to providing assistance for over a decade to children and families who have been displaced by the wars that ravaged his native Yugoslavia.
Together with International Orthodox Christian Charities, Divac has helped provide emergency aid, and brought educational programs and vocational training to thousands of children in Serbia-Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ethiopia and the United States.
Contributions to IOCC’s Hurricane Disaster Response Fund may be sent to IOCC, “Hurricane Relief,” P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225. Donations may also be made online at www.iocc.org or by calling toll-free 1-877-803-IOCC (4622).
IOCC’s emergency response network, comprised of trained Orthodox clergy and their U.S. parish communities, provides emergency services to people struggling to recover from natural or man-made disasters.
Founded in 1992, IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA).
IOCC Emergency Personnel Prepare For Hurricane Rita
September 22, 2005
Baltimore (IOCC) — Three weeks after responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina along the U.S. Gulf Coast, IOCC Emergency Response personnel have begun preparations in Texas in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Rita.
Efforts have been underway since Tuesday to position supplies in the areas projected to be most impacted by the looming storm. Orthodox parishes are being readied in Houston and further inland to receive relief shipments and evacuees.
Even as preparations for the next hurricane got underway, IOCC efforts continued in Mississippi and Louisiana.
In previously affected areas of the Gulf Coast, IOCC recently rotated staff who had arrived shortly after the initial disaster. IOCC maintains a presence in Mobile, Ala., Biloxi, Miss., Baton Rouge, La. and Houston, Texas.
The scope of the disaster and the ongoing recovery efforts have prompted IOCC to bring in experienced relief personnel from its offices overseas. IOCC head of office for the Republic of Georgia, Pascalis Papouras, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, arrived Monday from that country to assist in the response.
Papouras traveled to Biloxi, Miss. today where he will be briefed by Fr. David Kossey, the head of the IOCC Emergency Response Network, who has led the effort in that city for the past two weeks.
“We are continually moving to respond to the needs as they emerge,” said Frank Carlin, the Field Director for IOCC’s operations in the Gulf Coast region. “This is a fluid situation with rapidly changing needs.”
“The best way to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina is through cash gifts and assembling health kits,” added Carlin. “This gives us the flexibility to act quickly to needs as they arise and will help the communities as we begin planning for the long-term recovery.”
Contributions toward hurricane relief efforts received in recent weeks have enabled IOCC to respond is such ways as distributing more than 18,000 “Gift of the Heart” health kits, providing 1,500 household clean-up kits to people returning to damaged homes, and supplying over 150 tons of emergency assistance, including food, water, blankets and bed linens, diapers, personal health kits and mattresses.
The address and instructions on how to assemble health kits may be found on IOCC’s website at www.iocc.org/healthkits. The kits should be sent to IOCC at the Church World Service warehouse in New Windsor, Md.
Contributions to IOCC’s Hurricane Disaster Response Fund, which will be used to assist people who have been affected by hurricanes in the United States, including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, may be sent to IOCC, “Hurricane Relief,” P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225. Donations may also be made online at www.iocc.org or by calling toll-free 1-877-803-IOCC (4622).
IOCC’s emergency response network, comprised of trained Orthodox clergy and their U.S. parish communities, provides emergency services to people struggling to recover from natural or man-made disasters.
Founded in 1992, IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA).
For media inquiries, please contact IOCC at
Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese Supports IOCC Hurricane Relief Efforts
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Baltimore (IOCC) — In a presentation made at one of three International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) emergency response centers in the Gulf Coast region, Fr. John Salem of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church presented a $125,000 contribution to the IOCC hurricane relief efforts on behalf of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America on September 20, 2005. “It has been, and always will be the policy of this God-protected Archdiocese to help our brothers and sisters around the world who have suffered from natural disasters. In this case, the need is at home,” wrote His Eminence Metropolitan Philip in a pastoral letter sent to all parishes of the Antiochian Archdiocese shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck. The support for the IOCC hurricane relief efforts was the result of collections taken throughout the Archdiocese over two Sundays in September. Leonidas “Lee” Kapetanakis, an Emergency Response team member from Houston, Texas and IOCC Board Member accepted the contribution on behalf of IOCC. IOCC’s pan-Orthodox Emergency Response Network has established parish-based response centers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Mobile, Alabama, and Houston, Texas. The funds contributed by the Antiochian Archdiocese will be used to assist in responding to the emergency needs as well as to support the long-term recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast region. Founded in 1992, IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA). |