Mormons step in to help Katrina victims
Northwest Florida Daily News
12/17/05
By PEGGY MAY, Daily News Senior Staff Writer

The Mormons have done it again.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, LDS, have once more jumped in to help those in need.

It started the first weekend in September as they converged on several Katrina-devastated areas to do what was needed.

Area Mormons took their last rip on Dec. 10-11, ending 14 consecutive weekend of cutting down trees, handing out food and water and tarps, repairing severely houses, and other humanitarian work for those affected by the storm. They gave suitcases to many people who’d had only plastic garbage bags in which to store their clothes and belongings.

“The effort will bring to a close on of the largest relief efforts ever undertaken by the church,” said Melvin Miller, president of the Fort Walton Beach Stake, which encompasses all units of the Mormon Church in Okaloosa and Walton counties.

They worked in Mobile , Ala. ; Pascagoula , Biloxi and Gulfport , Miss. ; and in Slidell , Covington and New Orleans , La.

All the hours of work and all the items and services provided were free to those receiving them.

And they didn’t say anything about their church or try to convert anyone to their faith.

However, they did wear shirts that said LDS Emergency Services. And on their cars they had the required permit numbers placed next to lettering that said LDS Emergency Services.

So, the recipients know from whence the aid came.

The Mormons worked and contributed to anyone in need – regardless of the race or religion of the recipients.

All of the LDS leaders are unpaid. They make their living in the real world.

In Miller’s case, that’s a very real world. He’s the managing director of the Okaloosa County Jail work farm north of Baker.

At their relief sites, their living arrangements were primitive. All the volunteers slep on the floors or in tents.

Joining the local volunteers were people from all over the Southeast.

On any given weekend there were between 500 and 4,500 people working, Miller said.

They had worship every Sunday in their work clothes, then took up their cudgels or shovels or hammers again.

They worked over the weekends, then drove back to their regular jobs on Monday.

It was hard.

“We believe in enduring to the end.” Said Libby McSheehy.

She couldn’t participate because she was sidelined with a bad case of the shingles, but her husband, their two sons, ages 43 and 44, and her husband’s brother all were among the workers.

Miller drove over in his motor home almost every weekend with his two sons, ages 29 and 35, and all worked hard.

He grew up on a farm and early on learned the importance of hard work, something he’s imparted to his two sons.

People drove tractor trailers with loads of supplies obtained from the LDS Bishop’s Storehouses in Atlanta , Orlando , Dallas and Houston .

These vehicles brought in gas, diesel generators and much more.

All was coordinated through conference calls between the Command Center in Slidell and the church headquarters in Salt Lake City , working under the leadership of Elder John Anderson, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy.

During these calls leaders gave reports and got their assignments.

“Coordination is the key to make sure there’s duplication,” Miller said.

An example – their representative in Gulfport said, “I need lots of water.” Soon, a water tank truck was there.

Through the same coordination, a megawatt diesel generator was loaded on a truck, which then drove to give power for lights and air conditioning.

Cutting through the red tape of regulatory agencies was one thing they didn’t have to do. The church had gone to the governors of Mississippi and Louisiana and secured permits which allowed unrestricted access. There also was a teaming agreement with the Red Cross.

The stake also adopted the city of Covington and took in Christmas supplies to its residents.

Currently, volunteers are working in a rented warehouse in Atlanta assembling kitchen kits for 70,000 FEMA trailers.

Clean up kits were another welcome aid provided by LDS. These are five-gallon buckets with strong plastic lids, making them serviceable as stools to sit on. Each contained a gallon of bleach, 30 ounces of disinfectant dish soap, two pairs of heavy latex gloves, two stiff scrub brushes, three medium sponges, one box of heavy duty trash bags, one spray bottle, a measuring cup and rags.

Volunteer’s work assignments were matched with their skills, such as Libby McSheehy’s cousin and her husband, who live in Gettysburg , Pa. Both worked. Stan cleaned and repaired tools and Mary did the work orders.

Les Fritz of Fritz Bros. Tree Service in the Fort Walton Beach area and his family provided tree service, cutting and clearing. He said the most exciting part was seeing how people cam to the aid of others. His son, Brandon, and two of Brandon ’s friends (Hunter Wood and David VeShawn), all students at Choctawhatchee High School , participated. Les Fritz said it has been fun watching them work and seeing the impact it has had on them. From an arborist perspective, he said it is the worst tree damage he has seen in 25 years of tree care. Some of the destroyed trees were hundreds of years old and can never be replaced.

Volunteers assigned to Hurlburt Filed assisted Fritz and his sons. He said he’s grateful to his employees here who kept his tree service business going, allowing him to travel to do his volunteer work for the church.

Workers from Houston camped at a Methodist church in Slidell . The church was grateful that these LDS campers also cleaned it up and cut trees and hauled them off.

One of the greatest honors, Miller said, was when “Methodist preachers asked the Mormons to take their pulpits on Sunday.”

Other expressions of gratitude came from individuals who were amazed.

In New Orleans nine Mormons worked in the house of a Mrs. Bartholomew, whose two-story duplex was completely flooded, with water going up to within three inches of the ceiling. The stench was so bad that they had to wear masks as they cleaned. They took her furniture to the curb for garbage pickup, including her ruined china cabinet, which was still standing upright. They saved each piece of her china and put it on the tailgate of her truck.

“You stink like… but you’re the closest thing to angels,” she said as she sat on the curb crying.

In New Orleans , a woman in her late 70s, originally from Hanover , Germany had a tree on her house. They cut it up and put a blue tarp on her roof. She asked them to take her to the store so she could buy some food and fix their lunch. They said no, and invited her to just stay at her house with them and eat club sandwiches with them.

“As she ate her sandwich and drank her soda pop, it was evident that she hadn’t eaten in days,” Miller said. They left extra food with her in shopping bags, and she too sat on the curb crying.