Hi, Roy, nice to meet you!

First of all, how kind and gracious of you to ask how the people in our country hit by those killer storms are faring. Sky is right...the federal and local government swoops in at the beginning, then sort of backs away to the next "big story."

Our church has adopted a church that was destroyed, as well as its people and those in the area. Our church donates needed items then every 2 weeks or so a group goes out to distribute them. Interstingly, I received this email from our church listserv just this weekend:

(Names deleted for privacy)returned on February 1st from a week at Camp Coast Care, the Lutheran-Episcopal recovery center located at Coast Episcopal School, Long Beach, MS.

Overall conditions in the Pass Christian – Long Beach areas have improved since our last visit there in late October. Gone are most of the crushed automobiles and refrigerators dumped along the roadsides. Some, but not all of the totally destroyed homes have been bulldozed and removed. Most key city offices are now staffed and operating from trailers. In areas where city services have been restored, trailers are frequently parked alongside homes undergoing repairs.

On the downside, but probably inevitable, is the news that FEMA tent villages are being closed this month, with little or no information on where the tent dwellers will be relocated.

As to the needs of the camp, the official source of information is the website at www.campcoastcare.com. After working in the food and clothing distribution tent for a week, we would add the following personal observations:

[There followed a listing of particular items in that are greatly needed.]

In its five month existence, the camp has hosted nearly 4500 volunteers, who have provided medical care, home restoration and repairs, and food distribution to almost 200,000 storm victims.

That is a small report of two individual churches joining together to help. (Our church has a membership of 600 so we're not talking huge churches here.)

Again, thank you, Roy, for being so kind to ask!

P.S. OOHHHHHH, how could I have forgotten!!!! Many of the animals rescued from Katrina made it here to Central Florida. My constant companion cat for 20 years had *just* died. I went to the SPCA and adopted Kali, a sweet calico who made it safely through the storm and into my arms!!! I can only image how scared those poor animals were, but seems , from what I'm hearing in this area, they are getting good homes!!!