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Four years ago the television screens rolled with footage of the bombing of the Twin Towers. Many jaws dropped at the sight of smoke rising in the air and flames spreading throughout that tremendous building. As the stone and glass structure started to crumble, so much disbelief wondered through American minds: Why was this happening? What type of person/people could have proposed such an event? Now we are four years later, on August 29, another world disaster occurred. This one not by man, but by nature. Hurricane Katrina, the lady with the mighty blow, has taken many more lives than the 9/11 catastrophe did, but the feeling of loss is still there. There is no competition between the two, Katrina would be the winner if so, the most lost. By the most lost, this would mean that not only human lives were taken, but homes and precious animals that were loved by their owners. The city has also lost many businesses which leaves the residents jobless. On September 11, 2005, we are trying to again help those that can't help themselves. As the firefighters and emergency crews went into smoky fire and rubble to find and free those caught in the Twin Towers, children and parent of Trinity-St. Paul Lutheran School are doing what they can do within their abilities to help those people involved in Hurricane Katrina. This all doesn't happen overnight. On Friday, September 9, some children from the school took part of the school day off to begin the first step of this task. The kindergarten, firs, second, seventh and eighth graders placed multi-colored flyers into plastic bags. With the schools, meaning the kindergarten through second grades, are in one building, the Trinity Center, in Worden, and third through eighth are at the St. Paul Center in Hamel, the two schools together abbreviated are TSP, being separate from each other, the seventh grade students went by way of the school's personal bus to the Trinity Center. Eighth graders made their way to downtown Hamel by parental transportation and saturated the majority of the town until the bags ran out. While doing this, the seventh graders and younger children went on foot to canvas parts of the Worden area. They, too, ran out of bags and headed back to finish out the school day. These are both Lutheran Missouri Synod Church Schools that combined to make a better curriculum for the students. Being just a short distance away, transportation and communication between the two comes easy. The flyer inside the bags told the homes what items were needed to help sustain a family of four or five, for just few days. The date that the children would be able to pick up the items being donated was also stated on the sheet. The whole school was open for this part and many from other four grades made it to the school to help out. Parents with pick-up trucks and mini-vans traveled around Hamel and Worden to retrieve bags of helpful items asked for on behalf of hurricane victims. Back at the St. Paul Center, vehicles were parked to unload all that was collected. The parking lot looked as though school was in weekly session. In and out of the doors were people of all ages, helping the hurricane victims. Some of the children wondered how the would feel and what kinds of food and personal items they would need if they had lost their homes. The boxes were filled with these thoughts in mind. The food was categorized into fruits, soups, vegetables, Chef-Boyardee products, cereals, and many other groups. The personal items were done in the same manner. Boxes were made for young and old. Everything from baby food to denture adhesive was in those donated bags. Boxes were filled to the top, where tape had to be used to keep the tops straight up to fit more items. Boxes were then placed in a room by the strong men and boys who used their abilities to lift, while the women and girls had the control of packing the room with the more than 30 boxes that were collected. Once packed away, a phone call was made to an organization that was also assisting the victims from Louisiana. A pick-up truck was sent to the school and the boxes were loaded up. Along with the boxes, prayer were sent to each and every one that was involved in the hurricane, and those who have worked to help relieve their pain. A special thank you is sent to the Worden and Hamel families that so selflessly helped spread this small ray of hope. The mission is to extend to those in need the knowledge that God loves them and so do we.
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Copyright © 2005 Trinity-St. Paul Lutheran School
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