Camp Restore — the LCMS camp that opened in New Orleans last fall to house volunteers helping rebuild the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast — is reportedly desperate for building
supervisors and project managers, in particular, and just more volunteer workers in general.
The urgent call comes more than a year and a half after Hurricane Katrina dealt its historic devastation and Hurricane Rita pounded the area just a month later.
“Camp Restore is urgently looking for people who can offer an extended commitment to work the camp,” said Dan Baker, director of the Laborers For Christ program, the LCMS ministry that provides on-site workers based out of Camp Restore.
“There are still people, many of them LCMS members, who have homes in desperate need of repair,” Baker said. “Our brothers and sisters in Christ are asking for our help, and this is an opportunity the Lord has set before us to help these people rebuild not just homes, churches, and schools — but lives.”
Camp Restore is at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and School in East New Orleans. Like its entire neighborhood, the church’s facilities suffered damage from the flood after Katrina. The congregation’s buildings were then repaired and renovated with an eye toward providing a base of operations for hurricane cleanup volunteers. The camp is expected to be operational for two to three years.
The only recovery camp based in East New Orleans, Camp Restore can house and feed up to 200 volunteers in its air-conditioned facilities. Its features include dormitory-style sleeping rooms, as well as indoor showers and bathrooms.
The camp’s property includes 18 RV spaces with full hookups for water, sewer, and electrical lines.
Camp Restore is a project of the LCMS Southern District, with funding and equipment from LCMS World Relief/Human Care and Orphan Grain Train. The Southern District includes the states most devastated by the 2005 hurricanes — Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and a portion of the Florida Panhandle.
Baker said that volunteering for projects based out of Camp Restore “is a great outreach opportunity — perfect for those with mission-focused hearts.”
He suggested that for Lutherans who would like to serve in the mission field but cannot travel oversees, “Camp Restore is a mission trip right in our own backyard.”
For information about volunteering or working at Camp Restore, contact Judie Rick or Susan Brashier at (888) 248-2636, or e-mail camprestore@yahoo.com.
Posted May 1, 2007
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