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Hurricane Katrina Relief Donations
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A Special Thanks
We thank the media for
their cooperation and interest in this event.
A huge thank you to
everyone who brought things, passed the word, came to sort, pack, and
load, Miriam Circle who “fed the troops”, Thrivent and others for gas
money, and of course, to the entire Miller family of three generations who
had a passion for this effort.
A very special thank you
to Theresa Montgomery who worked as the key dispatcher of information and
was so helpful during these 2 weeks of high activity. |
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“STUFF A SEMI”
for Hurricane Katrina relief
(the long version)
On Friday, September 2,
Roxanne Hochsprung called our church office with an offer we couldn’t
refuse. Her co-worker, Diane Miller, said that her husband, Tim, is a
semi-truck driver and was anxious to take a load of needed supplies to the
area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Even though it was Labor Day
weekend, we contacted 15 churches to alert them to this opportunity
Beginning Tuesday,
September 6, Grace and Peace made contact with the ELCA national office in
Chicago, the Central/Southern Synod office in Springfield, depot cities in
Danforth, St. Joseph, and Steeleville, IL; Ascension Lutheran church in
Jackson, MS; the media; the businesses in our church neighborhood; and
friends. Phone calls, e-mails, posters, and conversations all spread the
word of the gathering effort.
People responded in all
kinds of ways. We followed the list given by the ELCA that included things
from chainsaws to baby food. We were most anxious to gather just what was
needed right now and work through the church network.
On Friday afternoon,
September 16, Tim drove the gleaming cherry red semi cab with the white
trailer down Knoxville from the north and into our parking lot. It seemed
to me that he was a knight in shining white armor, and our mission was
going to happen.
By the
time we finished loading on Saturday, Sept. 17, about 3 p.m. we had the
53’ semi just 2/3 full. This included items from a 3-day stop in the K
Mart parking lot in Canton where Tim’s sister, Dana, had rallied donations
from churches, businesses, and friends.
We then called St. John
Lutheran in Danforth where we caught Pastor Jim Gerth just before a
Saturday afternoon wedding. He was delighted that our driver, Tim, was
willing to go out of his way to the Champaign/Urbana area to pick up more
supplies. Our volunteers joined hands with Pastor Wayne and the Millers
for a prayer of blessing and safety on the trip. Tim and his father,
Ron, started out at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday for Danforth and St. Joseph. With
those 2 stops, they finished filling the semi for the journey to Ascension
Lutheran in Jackson, MS.
After a night near
Memphis, they pulled into the parking lot in Jackson and had to wait their
turn because the volunteers there were already working with other
arrivals. When Sgt. John Rich saw what we had and how well it was
packed, he asked Tim to keep it on board and drive down to Harvey, LA,
right to the heart of the devastated region, another 200 miles. This may
have been more adventure than Tim had bargained for but he went on to
Harvey to make the delivery.
Roberta Dietrich, “Stuff
a Semi” Coordinator
Page content last updated:
October 4, 2005
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