CHARLOTTE — Parishes and schools across the Diocese of Charlotte are being asked to respond in the wake of Hurricane Florence with donations of money, food and supplies for our brothers and sisters in need in the Carolinas.
Forty-three people died and thousands of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed when Hurricane Florence came ashore in Wilmington Sept. 14. Damages are being estimated at between $38 billion and $50 billion, and recovery and rebuilding efforts in the region – still reeling from Hurricane Matthew in 2016 – are expected to take up to two years, emergency officials estimate.
Parishioners will have the chance to help victims of Hurricane Florence in special collections taking place at upcoming Masses.
In a Sept. 18 memo to pastors announcing the special collection, Monsignor Mauricio West, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, wrote, “As you are no doubt aware, the Carolinas and Virginia were struck by a devastating hurricane, causing fatalities, extensive flooding and high winds damage. Hurricane Florence has created a situation beyond which the local communities and agencies cannot handle without outside assistance.”
Parishioners should look for announcements from their parish as to when the collections will take place.
Donations should be made payable to one’s local parish, noted for “Disaster Relief.”
Donations will then be forwarded by parishes to the diocesan finance office, which will then dis-tribute the funds to Church partners offering disaster relief and recovery efforts – both short-term and long-term – to affected communities.
In addition, Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte has been working closely with its sister agency in the Diocese of Raleigh, organizing collections of three key types of items that Raleigh specifically requested: nonperishable food, cleaning supplies, and diapers (child and adult).
Flyers have been distributed to parishes and schools to help them organize drives for hurricane relief supplies should they choose to do such a collection.
The first load of supplies traveled to eastern North Carolina this week.
“Recovery from a massive disaster like this will take a great deal of time,” said Joseph Purello, Catholic Charities’ director of social concerns and advocacy. “As the waters recede, people will start to go back home and find out just how bad the damage is, and whether their homes are even capable of sheltering them once again.
“What we know from previous experiences with disasters such as this is that it will be communities and households that already struggle with poverty and lower economic opportunities that will have the greatest struggles to face. We must find in our faith the generosity and the commitment to justice that will ensure people are not expendable when a crisis like this comes, and we must work to see to it that safe homes, clean water and economic security are part of a post-disaster life for the hurricane survivors.”
For Catholic Charities, the response efforts will extend beyond the special collections and food drives in the coming weeks.
“Catholic Charities is not a first responder in disasters,” noted Dr. Gerard Carter, Catholic Charities’ executive director, “but rather we are a provider of short- and long-term case management services. That is, once rescue personnel have concluded their jobs, agencies such as Catholic Charities work directly with storm survivors to restore normalcy to their lives.”
Carter said his agency expects to coordinate recovery efforts with the Raleigh agency “perhaps well into next year.”
— Catholic News Herald
Pictured: Staff at Catholic Charities’ Winston-Salem office load agency vehicles with hurricane relief supplies that were sent to the Diocese of Raleigh this week.
(Photo provided by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte)