About a month ago I invited everyone to keep a Gratitude Journal during a sermon on Sunday morning. A few of you have been busy --- I haven't done as well as I would like, but I know that the days I do it --- it really frames the day.
A few weeks ago, Gloria Banjura from the church shared with me a poem that she wrote in her journal, about things she is thankful for. I asked her for permission to print it here.
GLORIOUS INDIAN SUMMER
Winter brings us cold winds and snow,
But also Christmas trees aglow.
For Jesus Christ came on this earth.
We celebrate his joyful birth.
Spring is shy and comes in late,
For sun and warmth she makes us wait.
Flowers are afraid to stretch and grow,
They may be covered by a late spring snow.
But finally summer does appear.
And what is that strange noise I hear?
Rain! It just goes on and on!
Our years, our cars, our homes are gone.
Then gently, quietly, fall floats in.
With sunshine, warm breezes, so we all begin
To build our lives anew with praise,
Thank God for strength and golden days.
Showing posts with label Flood of 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flood of 2008. Show all posts
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
LARRI
LARRI (Lakeshore AREA Regional Recovery in Indiana) was official created yesterday at the second meeting of the Long Term Recovery committee. LARRI is the Long Term Recovery organization created to partner with the people of Lake, Porter and LaPorte Counties as they seek to restore their homes to a safe, secure and sanitary condition.
At the meeting we adopted the name LARRI, a set of Policies and Procedures, as well as elected officers to a two year term. Elected as Chair: Steven Conger, Pastor of Ridge United Methodist Church in Munster Indiana; Vice Chair: Gary Olund, of Northwest Indiana Community Action Corporation; Secretary: Gordon Johnson, CEO of American Red Cross of Northwest Indiana, and Treasurer: Sharon Kish, Director of Porter County United Way. The seven chairs of the sub committees along with the officers and four at-large members will serve as a steering committee for LARRI.
Also adopted by the organization was a job description for a Director of LARRI (Disaster Coordinator). We are seeking persons who might be interested in this position. Persons interested should contact Steve Conger (219-757-1109) or steve@ridgeumc.org with a resume before the end of November. The steering committee hopes to have this critical position filled by mid-December.
We also discussed our application to Lilly for funds which is due next week. We have currently received $250,000 from Lilly and are applying for round 2 funding (application due November 21). We will keep you informed on the status of this grant application.
Wendy’s of Northwest Indiana made a presentation to LARRI of $9,100 in gift cards. The money was raised at local restaurants in the weeks since the flood. Thank you Wendy’s for your generous donation.
NEXT STEPS
The clean up phase is almost complete! It was reported that about 30 or so houses still need to be cleaned and those should be done over the next two weekends. We know that houses continue to be identified that need our assistance! Thanks to Kathy and her crew who have worked so hard in assuring that all of the homes in Northwest Indiana are "mucked out", and sanitized!
We are very concerned about homes without heat. The Construction/Volunteer management team is working with Case Management to identify the immediate needs and get working furnaces into those homes that need them.
Dates of future meetings:
Construction/Volunteers — Thursday (11/20), 10 AM, Lake Business Center 9200 Calumet Avenue, Munster.
Contact Dale Fieldhouse: fieldhouserefrig@aol.com
Publicity — EVERY Thursday, 3:30 PM Porter County United Way.
Contact: Byron Kaiser: pastor@hammondfumc.org
Spiritual and Emotional Care — December 3, 8:30 AM Geminus Corporation. Contact: Sandy Appleby: sandy.appleby@geminus.org
Preparedness — December 10, 2 PM Lake Area United Way
LARRI — December 9, 8:30 AM Duneland Conference Center, Portage. Contact: Steve Conger: steve@ridgeumc.org
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Munster Flood
I have been invited by the Munster Civic Foundation to assist them in coming up with a plan to distribute a fund of money that has been collected to people who were effected by the September flood in Munster. We had our first meeting last night and began laying out the general framework for persons to apply to recieve this money. Currently there is about $100,000 in the fund, not a lot when you consider that more that 1,100 households were effected by the flood. If anybody has some thoughts about how the money should be distributed, you can comment here or send me an e-mail.
In this mornings North-West Indiana Times (our local newspaper) there was an article describing the Munster Civic Foundation. I have attached it for your convenience.
Funds will continue to be collected until mid-late November.
In this mornings North-West Indiana Times (our local newspaper) there was an article describing the Munster Civic Foundation. I have attached it for your convenience.
Munster Civic Foundation
About the group: Formed in 1992. Supports the Town of Munster. Meets quarterly. Nonprofit organization.
Mission: Munster Civic Foundation strives to enrich the community through such efforts as beautification and education projects.
Special events: Munster Civic Foundation established a flood relief fund and 100 percent of all collections will go to affected residents. Checks should be made out to "Munster Civic Foundation" and can be dropped off at any People's Bank or the Town Hall; there are no administrative costs from MCF or the bank.
The foundation paid a portion of the cost for the brick parkway along Calumet Avenue and Ridge Road; contributed $300,000 toward the $1.2 million federal grant for the first 10 miles of the bike paths and pays for the town's fireworks display every year. The group pays for holiday decorations on the light posts in town, provides $20,000 sponsorship toward the Blues and Jazz Festival and, in the past, provided $10,000 in sponsorship for the winter festival. MCF made a substantial contribution to Munster Centennial Park and was responsible for the aerial demonstration and the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra performance at the 100-year celebration. Munster Civic Foundation partnered with Munster Historical ociety for The Brass Tavern Cookbook that paired recipes and town history. The foundation encourages the display of public art through tax abatement of community properties and has the ongoing project of eplacing flags on street lights along 45th Avenue, Calumet Avenue and Ridge Road.
Advice: "There are absolutely no administrative costs associated with whatever giving is made to Munster Civic Foundation," said MCF secretary/treasurer Dave Shafer.
How to get involved: Donations for the flood relief fund can be dropped off at any People's Bank or the Town Hall or mailed to 1005 Ridge Road, Munster, IN 46321. For more information, call (219) 836-6945.
People might be surprised to know: "That it's (the foundation) around. We need to do more in the way of self-promotion," said Shafer.
Funds will continue to be collected until mid-late November.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Flood part 1
Who would have thought all that would go on the last month? Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate what has taken place. Let me try to fill you in on what has happened since September 14th.
On September 13th, at 2:00 am Hurricane Ike came ashore at Galveston, Texas. We had been experiencing rain for the previous couple of days, but starting that weekend it rained, and rained and rained. I never realized that a hurricane could cause so much damage, so far away from where it came ashore. Sunday morning, we began getting flood warnings, and during the 11:00am worship service we received a cryptic note from the town saying that evacuations were taking place close to the Little Calumet River. Those of you who are from the region know that the Little Cal is hardly a river --- more like a dirty stream. But the rain had swollen the Little Cal to the point that it was flowing over the levee.
After Church was over, Nathan and I took a couple of women home because we had heard that there was a great deal of standing water on the roads in town. By the time I got home, close to 2pm, the rain had stopped, the sun was trying to get out --- and I was feeling guilty that I had decided to cancel Disciple Bible Study for the evening. I had no idea of the extent that the river had spilled its banks. Usually when we have a heavy rainfall my street always floods, not this time. It was very strange.
Monday morning, (my day off), I decided to head into the church, only to find that Nancy could not come in because the only exit from her neighborhood was underwater and closed. Nathan was dealing with water in his basement (seepage), and Kathy could not get across the Little Cal. from home. I spent some time trying to figure out what was going on, but really had no idea.
Tuesday, I started to really understand the impact that the flooding had. We began trying to locate all of the church families that were affected (12), and figure out what was going on in town. I went down to the Town Hall and in talking with the city officials I realized that nobody knew what the faith communities were doing. What I found out was --- neither did the faith communities. I took a phone book and began calling all of the faith communities in town, and invited them to a meeting at Ridge Church the following day. My objective was simple --- communicate what each group was doing and see what we needed to get organized. Not really a big deal.
Somehow my name ended up in the hands of the Indiana VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Assisting in Disasters). I received a call asking me to come the next day to an organizational meeting as the community planned a response to the disaster.
More to come . . .
On September 13th, at 2:00 am Hurricane Ike came ashore at Galveston, Texas. We had been experiencing rain for the previous couple of days, but starting that weekend it rained, and rained and rained. I never realized that a hurricane could cause so much damage, so far away from where it came ashore. Sunday morning, we began getting flood warnings, and during the 11:00am worship service we received a cryptic note from the town saying that evacuations were taking place close to the Little Calumet River. Those of you who are from the region know that the Little Cal is hardly a river --- more like a dirty stream. But the rain had swollen the Little Cal to the point that it was flowing over the levee.
After Church was over, Nathan and I took a couple of women home because we had heard that there was a great deal of standing water on the roads in town. By the time I got home, close to 2pm, the rain had stopped, the sun was trying to get out --- and I was feeling guilty that I had decided to cancel Disciple Bible Study for the evening. I had no idea of the extent that the river had spilled its banks. Usually when we have a heavy rainfall my street always floods, not this time. It was very strange.
Monday morning, (my day off), I decided to head into the church, only to find that Nancy could not come in because the only exit from her neighborhood was underwater and closed. Nathan was dealing with water in his basement (seepage), and Kathy could not get across the Little Cal. from home. I spent some time trying to figure out what was going on, but really had no idea.
Tuesday, I started to really understand the impact that the flooding had. We began trying to locate all of the church families that were affected (12), and figure out what was going on in town. I went down to the Town Hall and in talking with the city officials I realized that nobody knew what the faith communities were doing. What I found out was --- neither did the faith communities. I took a phone book and began calling all of the faith communities in town, and invited them to a meeting at Ridge Church the following day. My objective was simple --- communicate what each group was doing and see what we needed to get organized. Not really a big deal.
Somehow my name ended up in the hands of the Indiana VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Assisting in Disasters). I received a call asking me to come the next day to an organizational meeting as the community planned a response to the disaster.
More to come . . .
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