ELCA raises $6 million for 9/11

Lutheran, The, Feb 2002 by Hunter, Elizabeth

Members of ELCA congregations sent more than $6 million as of Dec. 31 to the ELCA for relief and rebuilding efforts after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The ELCA and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod are responding jointly through Lutheran Disaster Response. More than $3 million has been given by the LCMS.

Aid Association for Lutherans and Lutheran Brotherhood raised $10.7 million in aid for terrorist victims, 80 percent of which is going to Lutheran Disaster Response-New York, a joint LCMS-ELCA organization set up separately from LDR. A report on how funds sent to LDR-New York are being used to help Sept, 11 victims will appear in The Lutheran's March issue.

As of Dec. 18, $2.7 million of the LDR contributions had been distributed for Sept. 11 disaster relief, reported Gil Furst, director for Lutheran Disaster Response, in a Jan. 2 interview with The Lutheran.

Most of the fund hasn't been distributed because the work is long-- term, Furst said. "Most income in disasters comes on the front end," he added. "Five years from now, when there are still needs, we must be able to meet them. For example, we're still caring for people after the Oklahoma City disaster six years ago. In New York the (national) Red Cross has already pulled out and other government agencies will follow. As the real needs continue to arise, the church will be there for the long haul."

So far, distributions to those most affected by Sept. 11 have been made in the areas of care for children, support for the ministries of church leaders, and care for family survivors and others who were directly affected by the tragedy.

Here are some examples of how funds are being used.

For children's needs:

* $75,000 for tuition assistance at nearly 200 joint ELCA-LCMS schools in the New York City area, as well as schools in New Jersey and the Washington, D.C., area.

* More than $200,000 toward counseling for schoolchildren, and training and respite care for schoolteachers.

* About $71,000 for "Camp Noah," a day camp to help children cope with disaster and find hope in the biblical story of Noah.

* $30,000 for House of Hope, a Lutheran organization that works with terminally ill youth.

To support pastors and other church leaders, the fund:

* Brought together ELCA pastor and theologian Foster McCurley with 35 affected pastors and 35 Long Island community members. McCurley also prepared a CD of sermon helps on disaster for pastors. It was sent to bishops and disaster coordinators in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

* Offers-almost weekly--counseling sessions for clergy with ELCA pastor and grief expert Gary Harbaugh to help them identify and work through the stages of grief.

* Provided $58,000 for a coordinator and part-time secretary who organize respite care for clergy. "We're enabling exchanges for a week or so between clergy families in affected areas and clergy in Pennsylvania synods," Furst said. "Clergy need to get unplugged from the disaster to come back refreshed and with new energy."

* Allocated $2,000 for grief and counseling books sent to affected congregations identified by bishops and their staff.

To help family survivors and others directly affected by the Sept. 11 attacks:

"We have case management in place over all three areas (New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C.) to help family survivors access systems [of government and other aid]," Furst said. "Right now the government is figuring that the average family will receive $1.6 million for each victim. Any money victims receive from other sources before the government's payment will be subtracted from that payment. ... What we're providing is ministry.

"In every disaster, part of the healing ministry is to let people tell their stories. What sets the church apart from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) or the Red Cross is that we offer the gospel to people who don't see any other hope."

Through LDR, ELCA chaplains are providing one-on-one counseling with families in New Jersey, accompanying them to ground zero, helping them apply for death certificates and praying with them on those difficult journeys. An LDR grant of $7,500 has provided housing at Seafarers and International House for people who can't afford a place to stay while in New York for funerals, memorial services or when applying for death certificates. "They don't just get a key to the room," Furst said. "They are also cared for by the pastoral staff who work at Seafarers."

LDR has also provided:

* $168,000 to set up 10 New Yorkbased trauma centers, which are receiving 100 visits a day. Another $169,000 will be sent for the centers in 2002.

* $30,000 to the Metropolitan New York Synod bishop to distribute at his discretion for needs of those affected, and another $10,000 to the New Jersey Synod bishop.

* $30,000 to hire three contract people to work with a Lutheran social services agency to distribute a large gram from the McCormick Foundation.

* $50,000 to area Lutheran agencies for work with undocumented immigrants, many of whom lost family or employment in the attacks. "There's no access for them to the resources available to others," Furst said. "It's a pretty heartbreaking situation, on top of the heartbreak [of the tragedy]."