Pittsburgh Catholic Newspaper - News and Features

News & Features

Catholics give generously for hurricane aid
archived from: 2005-09-29
by: Chuck Moody

Bishop Donald Wuerl said he was very pleased with the “across-the-board response” by the faithful and institutions in the Diocese of Pittsburgh to his call to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated parts of the Gulf Coast region of the United States.

“The very generous financial response is typical of the Catholics of this area,” Bishop Wuerl said. Additionally, Bishop Wuerl praised “the parishes that were prepared to sponsor families and bring them here to help them.”

“Though most of the people in the affected areas want to return to their homes and do not plan to go to elsewhere, nonetheless our Catholic people and parishes were willing to respond with open arms. Catholic Charities was ready to help coordinate the relocation if any of the people did decide to come here,” he said.

Bishop Wuerl had asked parishes to take up a voluntary hurricane disaster relief collection at Masses over the Labor Day weekend. The money collected that weekend, and subsequent contributions, were earmarked to go directly to the archdiocese and dioceses along the Gulf Coast affected by the hurricane for direct distribution to those most in need.

A total of $1,541,887 had been donated to the Diocese of Pittsburgh for hurricane relief efforts as of Sept. 27. The money was from 191 parishes and 23 schools that had remitted their collections. Some schools included their donations with the parish rather than submit them separately. The total figure includes $110,172 in donations that were sent directly to the diocese rather than being submitted through a parish or a school.

“What we have been able to do is amazing. More than half the money collected is already in the hands of the local church in the affected dioceses and archdioceses in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas,” Bishop Wuerl said, and the remaining funds from the collection will be forwarded as soon as they are processed.

“The dioceses and archdioceses along the Gulf Coast are best able to respond directly. They have the means to respond, know the immediate needs, and can assure that the needs of the people are being met,” Bishop Wuerl said.

Immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck, Bishop Wuerl requested that each parish or cluster of parishes consider sponsoring a family to be temporarily resettled in the Pittsburgh area. However, Gov. Ed Rendell subsequently announced that Pennsylvania was not expected to receive hurricane evacuees as part of a rotating schedule set up by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for states willing to assist in the ongoing recovery effort in the Gulf region.

There were instances in the diocese, however, in which people from the Gulf Coast relocated, at least temporarily, to the Pittsburgh area. Following the disaster, Catholic Charities in the diocese worked diligently to provide emergency and long-term assistance for the evacuees, said Mary Ann Krupa, associate director of development and public relations.

“As part of Pittsburgh’s disaster response network, Catholic Charities has been interfacing with 60 parishes and local government agencies to help meet the many needs of those who have suffered substantial losses,” Krupa said. “This includes providing tangible assistance such as housing and household goods, cleaning supplies, food, diapers and referrals for clothing.

“Catholic Charities is also offering counseling services to evacuees by providing rotating caseworkers at the Pittsburgh Project intake site. In addition, through heartfelt corporate and individual donations, over $100,000 has been raised to date for the Catholic Charities Hurricane Katrina Fund to help sustain long-term disaster relief efforts.”

The volume of calls that Catholic Charities has received offering assistance to the victims of Katrina has been overwhelming, especially since many of those offering help were victims of the floods in the Pittsburgh area last year, Krupa said.

“People in our diocesan parishes are champing at the bit to help these victims,” said Sister Marlene Luffy, coordinator of the relief efforts for Catholic Charities with the parishes.

St. Gabriel Parish and School in Whitehall accepted a family of five from New Orleans, including the mother, father and three children. The oldest child enrolled in the eighth grade, and the family was considering enrolling her younger brother in preschool. They were living at their grandmother's house.

St. Robert Bellarmine, along with the local ministerium, accepted three families in North Versailles and East McKeesport. Their needs, both physical and spiritual, were met by individual parishioners and various parish organizations.

At Holy Sepulcher School in Glade Mills, officials and students welcomed an alumnus of the school, who brought her three children from suburban New Orleans.

Parishioners at St. Louise de Marillac in Upper St. Clair contributed $46,000 to the hurricane relief efforts.

“The same thing happened with the tsunami collection,” said Father Thomas Kredel, pastor of St. Louise de Marillac, regarding a collection that was taken up in January for victims of the earthquake and tsunamis that occurred in South and Southeast Asia Dec. 26 and to which people from the Diocese of Pittsburgh contributed more than $2.5 million.

In addition to what the parishioners contributed, students in the parish school collected $2,000 during a bake sale, Father Kredel said. They also collected school supplies that filled a rental truck for schools operated by the Christian Brothers in the Gulf area. Members of St. Bernard Parish in Mount Lebanon collected $24,500 for the hurricane victims.

“I just found it remarkable that there was no announcement made the prior week,” said Father David Driesch, pastor of St. Bernard. “They just happened to come to Mass that Sunday, and we were able to generate that type of response.”

Students at St. Bernard School also collected money, and they will take part with nearby schools Oct. 24 in “Mount Lebanon Lights the Way,” a fund-raising event in which luminaria will be sold for $10 each, and the streets of the community will be lit. All proceeds will go to the hurricane relief fund.

Parishioners at St. Hilary in Washington collected $9,600 for hurricane victims, and the parish matched it for a total of $19,200. “It was the same way last year for the tsunami relief,” said Father Thomas O'Neil, pastor of St. Hilary, which has about 800 families. “We told the people to be generous, and they were.

“We had some very big donations. They weren’t all parishioners. Some of them were people from other parishes who come here. We really feel very good about how they responded and were happy to match it with our own parish funds.”

Because of the vast devastation that people suffered during Hurricane Katrina, in addition to the special collection, the entire regular Sunday collection for that weekend was sent to the hurricane victims from St. Francis of Assisi in Finleyville. The total amount was $17,850.

“This was our way as a parish to show our support,” said Father Robert Boyle, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi. “Jesus will not be outdone in generosity. We feel our gift will come back to us here or in eternity.”

Christ the Light of the World Parish and St. Joseph Parish, both in Duquesne, wanted to do something positive, personal and direct to help hurricane victims.

“I became aware of a parish in Morgan City, La., Holy Cross, which is about 80 miles west of New Orleans and which is directly helping the hurricane victims,” said Father Dennis Colamarino, pastor of Christ Light of the World and administrator of St. Joseph. “The parochial vicar is Father Joshua Rodrique, a classmate and friend of Father Dennis Yurochko (Bishop Wuerl’s master of ceremonies). Holy Cross Parish has set up shelters so the victims could shower and be fed. They were feeding about 300 people a day. They provided vouchers for fuel and personal hygiene items. They are educating about 120 displaced high school and grade school students. Also, they are participating in a ‘Starfish’ program, which helps families look for missing or displaced family members.

“We thought ‘parishes helping parishes’ was the one way we could help. We will be sending free-will monetary donations through the Caring Ministry, the Friends of the Needy program of our parish. This will be ongoing. Father Josh will give us updates on their needs and what is being done.”

Catholic schools in the diocese collected more than $43,000 for hurricane victims.

“Almost immediately following upon Hurricane Katrina, our students got involved in reaching out to those ravaged by the storm,” said Father Kris Stubna, diocesan secretary for education. “Their efforts to raise money for the hurricane victims expresses a deep-rooted conviction that we must care for those in need, our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Among the fund-raisers at various schools and parishes were bake sales, candy sales and dress-down days. Also collected were various items, such as clothing, diapers, bottled water, toiletries, paper products and jugs of bleach for shipment to the affected areas.

Some parishes and schools planned additional events, such as dances and dinners, to raise more money for the hurricane victims.

Pittsburgh Catholic Publishing Associates, corporate publisher of the Pittsburgh Catholic, contributed $3,000 to the Catholic Press Association's Hurricane Katrina Publication Assistance Fund. The money was designated to be distributed to three diocesan newspapers that were affected by the hurricane.

“We have been blessed in many ways and are glad to be given this opportunity to extend a helping hand,” said Robert Lockwood, general manager of the Pittsburgh Catholic. “Our prayers are with the staff members of the Clarion Herald, the Gulf Pine Catholic and the Bayou Catholic, as well as their dioceses and all those affected by Katrina.”

E-mail this story