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Hearts go
out to Katrina survivors
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
U.S. News and World Report has opined that Hurricane Katrina has
uprooted more Americans than the Civil War, the Dust Bowl storms of the
1930s, or the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. It has been described as
an American tsunami. Its 145 mile-per-hour winds and a 25-foot storm
surge left devastation that we at a distance cannot fully comprehend.
Given publication timelines (this was written Sept. 8), this column may
offer stale information. At the same time, there is a need to
acknowledge the many offers to provide help that Katrina has triggered
in the Catholic community of Northcentral Indiana.
Catholic Charities USA is an excellent way to provide aid. It will see
that the funds raised in our Local Church are applied where they are
most needed over the long term. Parishes have been asked to offer you an
opportunity to contribute. You may also contribute directly via the
Internet at www.catholiccharitiesusa.org.
When tragedy strikes, people are moved by the plight of their brothers
and sisters and do respond with generosity. Church groups and
organizations of various kinds are sending truckloads of clothes, food
and other items to the devastated areas. While commendable, distribution
can become a challenge. Goods pile up, sometimes go unused or are
misused. The reality is that well-meaning donors can and do create a
second disaster, to quote a Red Cross official. Roads are flooded,
bridges are down, people must sort items, store them and distribute
them. Once distributed, most people do not have homes to take these
items to, and people are being relocated in some 20 states across the
country. It is best to work through established agencies.
Unlike most dioceses, our Local Church does not have a Catholic
Charities Office. It proved to be financially prohibitive and was
discontinued in the early 1980s. That is not reflective of a lack of
interest. Rather, it is a matter of funding. The downside in the Katrina
disaster is the reality that as a diocese we do not have the
infrastructure to accept evacuees, to collect clothing, to provide
counseling, etc. Some dioceses have the infrastructure and are
responding. Bottled water, nonperishable food, hygiene products,
over-the-counter medicine, baby supplies are being collected by Catholic
Charities personnel in the Diocese of Buffalo. The Archdiocese of Newark
(New Jersey) initiated a blood drive in cooperation with the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, recruiting health-care
professionals, including physicians, nurses and technicians, to
volunteer for duty for a minimum of two weeks at any one of the 40 field
hospitals being established in the Katrina affected area. We do not have
the structure nor the personnel to make such headlines.
How then can the Catholics of Northcentral Indiana who wish to provide
non-monetary support, including temporary housing for evacuees, proceed?
The best approach is to utilize the structure of the Red Cross (www.redcross.org).
As a recognized agency, the Red Cross is eligible for available
government reimbursement. The Red Cross can explain precisely what is
expected of those who wish to host evacuees and where to deliver
nonperishable goods.
Apart from that, consensus is that cash donations to established
charities are the best road to travel at the present time. Catholic
Charities USA is the long-established instrument used by the Catholic
Church to provide aid such as that currently needed.
It is quite possible that down the road we as a diocese may be asked to
reach out in specific ways to the Catholic dioceses in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama. Initial information indicates that every church
building in Biloxi has sustained damage, some of it catastrophic. Time
is needed to assess the long-term needs. We will respond as resources
allow.
Meanwhile, governmental agencies are getting their act together. Water,
food and clothing are being distributed. The goal is to provide housing
for the thousands of people who were displaced by the hurricane. But,
the devastation is so widespread that miscommunication has plagued the
relief operation. The newspaper USA TODAY listed one example: “A 10-bus
caravan full of supplies from Washington arrived outside New Orleans
over the weekend with plans to take 400 evacuees back to a shelter in
the capital. By the time the buses arrived, the evacuees scheduled to be
moved to Washington had been flown out, and there was no need for more
supplies in New Orleans. The convoy headed for Alabama but got only one
taker there. Tuesday, the 10 buses were headed back to Washington with
one evacuee on board.”
Taking the long view has merit. To repeat the already repeated: Cash
donations to Catholic Charities USA may be a somewhat impersonal road to
travel, but a most effective one. |
