A fifth team of volunteers from Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) arrived in Baton Rouge, La., on Thursday, Sept. 1. Four CDS teams already have completed their service there. The CDS volunteers have been caring for children and families who have been displaced by flooding and are living in American Red Cross shelters.
The Church of the Brethren’s Material Resources has sent two additional shipments of relief supplies to Louisiana on behalf of Church World Service (CWS).
Children’s Disaster Services
The CDS volunteer teams in Louisiana have served more than 400 children, reports CDS associate director Kathy Fry-Miller. CDS also has teams on alert today to respond to hurricanes in Hawaii and Florida if needed.
“There are continuing needs for so many people who fear they may be permanently displaced from their homes,” said a Facebook post from CDS, expressing concern for the families affected by flooding in Louisiana. “We are grateful for the children that have been sharing their laughter and tears with our teams, and for the families who have shared their children with us during these stressful weeks. We are grateful for our partners in response, particularly Red Cross staff. We are grateful for our volunteers.”
CDS has shared a blog written by a first-time volunteer, Child Life Specialist Brianna Pastewski. Find it at http://cldisasterrelief.org/2016/08/first-day-in-louisiana-by-brianna
Material Resources
The Material Resources program based at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., warehouses and ships relief goods on behalf of ecumenical partners and humanitarian aid organizations. In the last week of August, two more shipments were made to Louisiana in response to the flooding, following on a first shipment sent on behalf of CWS.
In the two most recent shipments, CWS released 1,000 clean-up buckets to the Baton Rouge area on Aug. 23, and sent 100 cartons of baby care kits and 400 clean-up buckets to Clinton on Aug. 25.