Mormons, Baptists, Salvationists, etc. - Churches of all stripes join Katrina relief effort

News :

"Two additional truckloads of humanitarian aid for Hurricane Katrina's hardest-hit areas along the Gulf coast are on their way from the Bishops' Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City. The semi-trucks, loaded Wednesday, are filled with supplies necessary to sustain the lives of Hurricane Katrina refugees. The cargo includes tents, sleeping bags, bottles of drinking water, and five-gallon gas containers. Meanwhile, Church meetinghouses across the Southeast continue to be used as emergency shelters."

I quote this item from the Latter-day Saints website in case someone take my reference to Mormon missionaries (in the item about FEMA recruiting firefighters to hand out leaflets) as a dig at the LDS. In fact, their church makes preparedness a cardinal principal of life on the quite reasonable grounds that if you are not prepared to take care of yourself and your family in times of stress, you won't be much use to your neighbors.

Meanwhile the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board has mobilized 1200 volunteers who are serving 300,000 meals each day. The Salvation Army has distributed 100,000 articles of clothing and served 400,000 meals so far. Catholic Charities from all across the nation are involved in relief and resettlement efforts with the San Antonio, TX, branch responsible for temporary shelter of 12,500 evacuees from the New Orleans area.

Everywhere you look, in ways large and small, churches are reaching out to help.