ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 22, 2006  

Lutheran Students Discover 'What A Relief!' it is to Help Others
06-044-MRC

     OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (ELCA) -- We're here to restore lives,
said Mary Ellen Burke, sophomore, Marquette University,
Milwaukee.  "I can't say that I've cleaned up all of southern
Mississippi, but I can say that I've touched a few lives."  Burke
is one of 1,100 students who participated in "What a Relief!" --
an opportunity for students and others in campus communities to
spend their spring break helping survivors of the 2005 hurricane
season recover.  Lutheran Disaster Response organized What a
Relief!
     College and university students from across the country
flocked to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi to muck
out houses and apartment buildings and remove debris from
beaches, parks and neighborhoods in an effort to rebuild the U.S
Gulf Coast.
     "I will walk away (from the experience) with a better
understanding of disaster and how it affects people," said
Jessica Stoner, freshman, North Dakota State University, Fargo.
Helping to clean up around town "is a good way to spend spring
break.  It's about helping people instead of just helping
yourself," she said.
     "Many people here feel forgotten," according to Amber
Anderson, junior, Minnesota State University, Moorhead.  Students
"have been saying to them, 'We know you're here, and we're happy
to help."  In return, Anderson said students received many
expressions of gratitude from the Ocean Springs community.  "As
some of us walk around town, we've had people in their cars honk
horns and yell out, 'Thank you,'" she said.
     John Pulkrabek, a graduate student from the University of
Wisconsin, Madison, encourages students that have yet to
volunteer to "come and help.  It's a lot of hard work, and you're
sore at the end of the day.  You cannot understand what has
happened here until you've come here."
     Jennifer Maas, sophomore, Minnesota State University,
Moorhead, said finding pictures of families in the rubble "made
me cry.  It made me realize how much is lost here."
     "I'm overwhelmed with how much (debris) has not been
touched, especially in Hancock County, Mississippi," said Kelly
Giese, freshman, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  "I can't
believe that it still looks like a bomb went off here.  (The
work) is so far from being done.  More help is needed," she said.
     There were 82 students and others from colleges and
universities from the Upper Midwest working March 13-17 in and
around Ocean Springs, said the Rev. Darin N. Johnson, Lutheran
campus ministry, North Dakota State University.
     "The students are energetic and have accomplished so much.
They have restored faith in humanity.  The past six months have
been so difficult for the community, so when people come to help
it's uplifting," Johnson said.

Students donate $770,000-worth of help
     By the end of spring break, students will have donated
$770,000-worth of in-kind volunteer service, said Michael D.
Nevergall, associate for program interpretation, Lutheran
Disaster Response.  Based in Chicago, Lutheran Disaster Response
is a national ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
     "We multiply every volunteer hour by $17.50, which is the
government-standard rate for rebuilding work," he said.  Students
worked an average of 40 hours per week.
     Since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Lutheran
Disaster Response has coordinated about 400,000 volunteer work
hours, said Nevergall.  Given that, approximately $7 million-
worth of work has been conducted in hurricane-affected
communities, he said.
     Lutheran Disaster Response projects that recovery work
following Hurricane Katrina will take the next six to eight years
in Louisiana and Mississippi, said Nevergall.  In Alabama, it is
estimated at three to five years. In Florida, recovery work
following Hurricane Wilma is estimated at three to five years,
but relief work "unfortunately never really ends because the
state is struck by hurricanes almost every year," he said.

Rebuilding work is 'grueling' but brings people together
     Nevergall helped develop What a Relief! in an effort to
provide students across the country an alternative to traditional
spring break activities.
     "One of my biggest reasons for wanting to put something like
this together was that I did this kind of work in college," he
said.  Rebuilding work "is hard and grueling. You get hot, sweaty
and stinky, and it's awesome.  Staff of Lutheran Disaster
Response (sought) to give students an opportunity to do something
that they wouldn't otherwise do during spring break."
     Part of what the college and university students experience
in disaster relief work is building relationships while working
together.
     While clean-up work involves lifting heavy debris and other
challenges, "all you have to do is wave your hand and about 20
people immediately come to your aid," said Matt Skoy, senior,
North Dakota State University.
     According to Nick Demske, senior, Carthage College, Kenosha,
Wis., student living arrangements have "made us one big family.
We're sleeping in a very large room at the Swingster Warehouse in
town.  Cots are placed at lease six inches apart."
     "The Swingster Warehouse will eventually house as many as
200 volunteers a week," said Nevergall.
     Half of the 52,000 square feet warehouse serves as a
distribution center, where survivors of Hurricane Katrina can
receive food, cleaning supplies and other materials.  Students
occupy the other half of the warehouse.
     "We're very excited to have the Swingster Warehouse as a
multi-purpose facility, because it allows us to continue a wide
range of services," said Nevergall.
     Other student groups and volunteers working on behalf of
Lutheran Disaster Response are sleeping in church buildings and
outdoor tents.
     Christus Victor Lutheran Church, Ocean Springs, provides
housing for students and other volunteers.  In the past three
months at least 2,000 volunteers have operated out of Christus
Victor, said Jim Antonakos, volunteer coordinator, Lutheran
Disaster Response.  He said the church is able to accommodate
about 200 volunteers a day while still meeting the needs of
hurricane survivors.
     Immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck, Christus Victor
became a 24-hour health clinic, distribution center and shelter.
The church narthex became a Red Cross intake registration center.
The church's fellowship hall became a food and material
distribution center, and its Sunday school rooms and sanctuary
became bedrooms for hurricane survivors and disaster response
volunteers.
     The church's disaster response mission is now "moving out of
crisis into sustained effort," said Antonakos.  Six months after
Hurricane Katrina, Christus Victor is receiving a "face lift," he
said.  "The sanctuary is being reconstructed, and The Red Cross
has relocated its operation.  Our goal is to give members of
Christus Victor back their church building."
     The church's food and material distribution work was
relocated to the Swingster Warehouse, where students and other
volunteers helped coordinate that work.
     "I'm not staying at the warehouse.  I'm sleeping in a tent
outdoors," said Valerie Nigro, freshman, University of Nebraska,
Kearney.  "There are 23 students and three adult chaperons from
the University of Nebraska helping this week and staying in 'tent
city' here."
     At the warehouse, Nigro helped distribute food and other
materials to members of the community.  "I love to help people.
This week has been a humbling and amazing experience," she said.
     Students participating in What a Relief! "have told me that
this has been a life-changing experience," said Nevergall.
"Often times they feel as if they have gotten much more out of
this experience than what they've put into it.  Many of our
volunteers return home with stories about the vastness of the
hurricane's destruction, and many of them make plans not only to
return but to bring other people with them," he said.
     "Once you've been in hurricane-affected areas, it's hard to
go home with the feeling that you've done enough (work) or that
the job is complete," Nevergall said.
- - -
DOMESTIC DISASTERS:

Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds to aid
survivors of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto
Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:

ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago,
Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via Internet:
http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/katrina

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