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By the staff of The Lutheran, ELCA News Service and Religion News Service ELCA response to Sandy will continue ...
‘Until the work is done’ A
fter Sandy and related storms struck in October, Lutheran Disas-
ter Response began efforts to help the millions affected.
In Cuba and Haiti, LDR pro- vided food, water and shelter amid flooding, mudslides and cholera outbreaks. Along the U.S. Atlantic Coast, it worked with synods, social service agencies and other partners to meet immediate and long-term needs—especially in hard-hit areas of New Jersey, New York, Connecti- cut, Pennsylvania and Maryland. With that aid and care came reas-
surance. ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson said in an Oct. 31 video message that Lutherans will “stay until the work is done. That is the ELCA’s commitment.” Metropolitan New York Synod
Bishop Robert Rimbo reminded members in a pastoral letter that on the Sunday before the storm hit, “many of our churches prayed Psalm 46 [that] says in glorious words and images, ‘We are not alone.’ ” LDR director Michael Stadie said, “Our hearts go out to everyone impacted. The greatest need right now is for financial gifts.”
Care amid complications Many Lutheran partners said com- munication difficulties, electrical out-
One hundred percent of gifts for Sandy will be directed to the response efforts. Send checks to ELCA Disaster Response (write “Hurricane Sandy” on the memo line), 39330 Treasury Center, Chicago, IL 60694-9300; give by credit card at 800- 638-3522 or
www.elca.org/disaster. For updates about needs, visit www.ldr. org.
8 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
ages, flooded roads, downed trees and gasoline short- ages complicated early relief efforts. Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish of Manhat- tan saw basement flooding impact its feeding program when it was most needed. In Spinnerstown, Pa., St. John Lutheran Church’s roof was severely damaged. (See
www.thelutheran.org and
www.ldr.org for other reports from congregations.) “In New Jersey, the eastern shore
areas were decimated,” said Peg Bucci, senior vice president of hous- ing and community services for Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey. The agency’s children’s home and a women’s shelter in Jersey City had to be evacuated, senior housing ministries lost power, and some meals and therapy programs were discontin- ued, she said. “We’re looking forward to help- ing people get back into their homes, get food and fill out applications for FEMA,” Bucci said. Ruth Lewis, the organization’s marketing and communications direc- tor, expressed some of the frustra- tions: “It wasn’t just people’s homes that were devastated, but their homes and their livelihoods. Right now, many of the people who want to help are also without power and without food. … We have to take this one step at a time. But if there’s a silver lining, it’s that people responded very well to advisories to take precautions, which saved a lot of lives and heartache.” “The triage has barely begun,” said ELCA Church Council member Christine Connell, executive director
NEAL GORMAN/LUTHERAN MEDICAL CENTER
There were joyful moments amid the storm. With city bridges and tunnels still closed Oct. 30, EMTs Mike Basti (left) and Anthony Graffeo from the Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, helped Aron Shi and Waichun Yung deliver their daughter, Sandy, in a kitchen.
for agency advancement at Lutheran Social Services of New York. “We’re gearing up to help people with case management. We don’t want to tell anyone, ‘No,’ but please check the [LDR] website to see when we will be ready for volunteers.” Added Ron Drews, LSSNY presi- dent and CEO, “We’re deep in com- munication with both the ELCA and (the Lutheran Church–)Missouri Synod side of our pan-Lutheran minis- try, using the model we used for 9/11.” At the ELCA-affiliated Lutheran
Medical Center, part of Brooklyn- based Lutheran Health Care, staff went the extra mile as caregivers despite their own losses in the storm. Staff held a Nov. 1 interfaith prayer service after a Lutheran Health Care nurse lost two children, ages 2 and 4, to drowning on Staten Island.
Elizabeth Hunter Hunter is a section editor of The Lutheran.
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