Packing Christmas Toys

We located the Salvation Army Church in Hattiesburgh and decided to help them with packing the Christmas parcels. Due to the Hurricane damage in this area the requests for help have increased from just under 2000 to 2500 FAMILIES asking for help. These are not food hampers but rather Christmas gifts for the children. The people who donate in Mississippi are so generous that the parents will not have to buy anything extra this year. The first day we worked at the church we felt very satisfied and rewarded when we returned to our mobile cabin. The Major at the SA Church told us that CNN news people parked their RVs on the SA grounds and drove to the gulf to cover the disaster. Inland towns and cities like Hattieburg were all but ignored. Here blue tarps cover roof after blown off or tree damaged roof and large trees are swirled into a tangle. People were trapped in their homes for a minimum of 3 days without information or assistance and most did not have hydro for up to 3 weeks.

Sunday we attended the service at the Salvation Army Church. A second year cadet was speaking (he will graduate as a pastor in the Salvation Army in June). We have not heard such a dynamic, no notes, meaningful message in person before. Unfortunately only about 40 adults heard this message on the Spirit of Christmas. We passed the unfamiliar churches on our way into Hattiesburgh and noted that their parking lots were full.

We have worked with the Christmas gift packing program every day since December 16th. There will be work to do until the 22nd when the gifts and food baskets are picked up. On Christmas day we plan on going to Gulfport to volunteer with the local community service organizations which are providing a Christmas dinner for those in need.

Merry Christmas to everybody in the snowbelt from the Gulf of Mexico.