Wisconsin—As reports of the widespread destruction and loss of life from Hurricane Katrina filled the news, members of the Clear Lake Church felt the need to be involved in relief efforts. Their original idea was to offer the vacant church school building as housing for evacuees.

Adventist Community Services leaders, Alice Garrett and Georgia Rosen, contacted the local American Red Cross and the Georgia-Cumberland Conference. Although the school building was placed on databases for hurricane victim housing, no evacuee families desired to move so far north.

Seeking an alternate way to help, the two ladies made calls to Georgia-Cumberland Conference communication director, Ken Wetmore, and Henry Beaulieu, manager of a Chattanooga, Tenn., warehouse where supplies were collected to set up evacuees in local apartments.

Beaulieu explained that bedding and kitchen items were badly needed for families relocating to Tenn. The Clear Lake Adventist Community Services team sprang into action, distributing posters and church bulletin inserts to each church in the community. All the Adventist churches in northwest Wis. were contacted as well.

After ten days collecting new and gently-used kitchen items, Clear Lake members began to sort, label, and pack. Volunteers from ages 11 to 91 showed up on Sun. afternoon, Sept. 25, to load a semi trailer donated by a local trucking company.

Dennis Maloney donated his time and gas to make the trip to Tenn., stopping at Northfield, Wis., for more donations and at Portage, Wis., where Heather Rosen had recruited help from the Portage Church. The total count was nine pallets of canned food and 14 pallets of boxed kitchen items and bedding.

Beth Nelson, Clear Lake Church communication secretary