Thanks to those who donated to the St. Rose Appliance Fund!  Over ten thousand dollars was raised and a check was sent to St. Rose.  Father Sebastian identified 26 needy families who made specific requests for appliances and in some instances other types of household goods.  We recommended that the funds be divided among these families to be used to meet their most pressing needs consistent with these requests. Holy Trinity Parishioners have been supportive of our friends at St. Rose over 16 months.

Please watch our announcements and continue the support. Checks may be sent to Holy Trinity at any time - please put them in a separate envelope marked on the outside "St. Rose - att. Pat Betts - Parish Life." Thanks. -

Our friends at St. Rose have sent greetings for a very Joyful Christmas.

I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for the support Holy Trinity has given us here at St. Rose.  We've had a variety of groups come down to help us out, but Holy Trinity has provided the most suitable and consistent support to this community.  It's always a pleasure to know a group from Holy Trinity is coming down to Bay St. Louis, because we know that you will serve the needs of this community.  That is the essence of volunteering, and it seems so simple, but it's easy to forget.  Holy Trinity has sent so many groups down here and each has done such an amazing job, St. Rose and this community owes a debt of gratitude to each and every one of you.

From the view of a volunteer coordinator, it's nice to know I can count on the preparation that makes a volunteer trip successful, and this past week was no different.

During "Electric week" 16 houses were worked on and 14 were completed - the two that were not completed were 80% completed and were awaiting power company action.  Once again, thanks to all of you for your time.  I do appreciate it and look forward to seeing you down the road.

This is Marilyn Smith (St. Rose de Lima, Bay St. Louis, MS) writing to give a heartfelt Thank You for your goodness and Kindness in preparing for our trip to DC.  You all were perfect host and hostesses.  We will never forget your thoughfulness.  Thanks also for looking our for Mama and Odile.  The people of Holy Trinity are truly blessed people.  We, at St. Rose cannot thank you enough.  Please let me know what I can do for you and your parish in any case.  I love you so much.  Give my love to all of Holy Trinity.

Eleven 10-13 year old boys traveled from Bay St. Louis to Washington to attend baseball camp and spend a week with a host family.

Despite the record-breaking rain, the week was a great success. The boys spent five days at the Home Run Baseball Camp in Northwest DC.  The Camp Director, John McCarthy, accepted all of the boys without charge.  The boys were also treated to a moonlight monument tour, courtesy of parishioner Kathleen Butler, a White House tour and a barbeque at our home.

The boys were excellent representatives of the Bay St. Louis community.  They were fun-loving, thoughtful and very grateful.

We thank the other host families:  Todd and Maureen Leventhal, Frank and Norma Monahan, Chuck and Pat Betts, and Michael Kelly and Susan Innes.   Also, two non-Holy Trinity families acted as hosts:  Mark and Jill Hetterman, whose son Josh spent Presidents' Day weekend roofing houses in Bay St. Louis and Terry Birkel and Ann Brown, whose daughter Maggie also went to Bay St. Louis over Presidents' Day weekend.

We hope that this success encourages others to work with the youth and families in Bay St. Louis.

Bob Reklaitis and Trish Maher

• To date, 20 volunteers have traveled to Mississippi to provide salvage, clean up, re-building, donation sorting, assessment, forms assistance, health clinic staffing, counseling and general support.
• On February 4th, we completed the third half-day orientation and training session for two additional groups of Holy Trinity volunteers. The first of these two groups includes 11 volunteers who will be departing for Bay St. Louis on February 8.
• Since September 2005, the project has sent 2 fully loaded trucks along with dozens of gift cards, $23,000 in cash, 400 Christmas Cards, prayers and notes.
• About one-half of the of Bay St. Louis residents have returned thus far. St. Rose de Lima and Fr. Sebastian continue to be a focal point for help and distribution of resources to the greater community. Fr. Sebastian has spearheaded a re-building effort for structurally sound residences - hence the recent requests for re-building/roofing volunteers.

How You Can Continue to Help

Volunteers Able to Travel to Mississippi

• There is an urgent need for volunteers interested in being trained to re-shingle 18 houses during the week of February 18-25. If you are able to make these dates, contact Jennifer Feltner immediately and plan to attend a pre-trip evening training next week.
• Hospitality Volunteers for 1st Saturday morning monthly Trainings or 1st Tuesday evening Returning Volunteer Coffees. (Need donations of fruit, baked goods or appetizers for participants of these events.)
• Set-up and Clean-up Volunteers for Mardi Gras Fundraiser February 25. Contact Maureen Leventhal or Trish Swift.

Need:  Many homes in Bay St. Louis received wind damage and have blue tarps on their roofs.  These tarps become less effective in keeping out the elements after 6 months.  It has been 5 months since the hurricane.  Roofs that are not secure challenge homeowners in efforts to regain their lives and protect possessions.  St. Rose parish has recently determined the number of structurally sound homes that are ready to receive a single layer of new shingled roofing and has requested this specific skill set of volunteers ASAP.

Wanted:  Volunteers are needed who have some building experience, and/or are willing to learn.  You must be in good physical condition to do outside work, not mind getting dirty and work well in a team.  You should also have an easygoing nature and be flexible with the ever-evolving learning process of a volunteer project.  Volunteers will work in teams organized by St. Rose.  Each team will have two people who have some experience with roofing work.  They will guide those with less experience.

Prospective team leaders will ideally have some experience re-shingling a roof, as well as in the following areas:  working a pneumatic nail gun, cutting caps, or applying metal flashing.

Volunteers must:

• Be available to arrive in Bay St. Louis Saturday evening February 18 or early morning February 19 and stay through Saturday February 25.  (Sunday is training and prep day.  Monday through Friday is roofing work.  Saturday February 25 is the final gathering for all volunteers and send off.)
• Have the experience described above.
• Be 19 or older.
• Be able to pay their own way down or drive.
• Attend Holy Trinity's Volunteer Orientation on Saturday February 4 in the Parish Center from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon (to be oriented to overall Katrina Relief Project, receive resource materials and sign liability release waivers and forms.)
• Bring your own work gloves, work boots, and sleeping bag.

If you can go to Bay St. Louis and meet the requirements stated above, please contact Jennifer Feltner.
You will be sent a volunteer application via e-mail and will need to return it via e-mail by February 1.  If you have building or construction skills but are unavailable on the dates in February, please contact us because there maybe other opportunities for rebuilding in the near and distant future.  Trips of volunteers with other skills sets will be planned for future timeframes according to St. Rose's needs and requests for specific expertise.

Note:  St. Rose parishioners expressed tremendous gratitude for the recently delivered truck of donations to help outfit their FEMA-provided trailers.  Thanks to all who helped and donated!

Thanks to all Holy Trinity Parishioners who made our second donation truck to St.Rose De Lima Parish a great success!  The truck was filled over capacity with items that will help stock Katrina survivors new FEMA trailers- a generous outpouring of wondeful beddings, kitchen ware, dishes, walkers, small electrics, heaters, etc.  A significant donation of Home Depot gift cards along with money to provide fuel for the truck was also given.  Parishioners even donated to keep the drivers fueled up on coffee!  More than 20 volunteers were on hand through out the Masses to help load!  Many thanks to all these volunteers and our drivers John Hisle and Marty Walsh.  Let's keep them and our other on-site volunteers helping out in Bay St. Louis this weekend (Adele, Charley, Tammy, Cyndi and Susan) in our prayers!

Holy Trinity Parish has made a long-term commitment to help the victims affected by Hurricane Katrina through a partnership with St. Rose De Lima Catholic Church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Many of the residents of Bay St. Louis are moving into FEMA trailers as they wait to rebuild their houses and their community.  Only about half of the resident's have come back to face the destruction of their homes.  Others continue to migrate back.  As a result, the cycle of processing the disaster, debris removal, dealing with post-traumatic stress, and finding new shelter continually repeats itself.

There is so much need, but also so many ways that you can help!

Join a volunteer trip to Mississippi.
We have a trip already planned for December 27, and upcoming trips in January, February and the spring, would you like to join us?  Volunteers need to be flexible as needs and roles are evolving in St. Rose.

Specific volunteer expertise needed:
While all volunteers are welcome, there is a specific interest in those trained in construction, grief counseling, or government forms processing.  If you have this or any other expertise to share in Mississippi, please contact Jennifer Feltner.

Buy a Wal-mart gift card
(Wal Mart is the closest store to the town that is open for business.).

• Sign up for buying a Wal-Mart gift card on the giving tree in the back of the church during Advent.
• You can also buy the cards on-line at Wal Mart and send them directly to Father Sebastian Myladiyil SVD.
• Write a check payable to Holy Trinity Catholic Church and mark your memo line for St. Rose Wal Mart cards, and drop it in the collection basket at church.

Write a card and say a prayer.
One of the best ways to give is to say a prayer for our friends in St. Rose De Lima.  Blank Christmas cards will be available in baskets at the back of the church, during cafe/coffee and doughnuts in McKenna Hall, and in the parish center.  Please pick one up, write a small note, and offer your prayers.  Your kindness will be very appreciated!  You can drop them in the boxes marked Holy Trinity Katrina Task Force or mail them directly to:

St. Rose De Lima Catholic Parish 301 South Necaise Ave. Bay St. Louis, MS 39520

Donate items to those in need.
One of our volunteers will be driving a truck down to Mississippi in January.  Check the bulletin for a drop off dates and a list of requested items.  If you have specific donations of large numbers of new items please contact Mary Ludden.

Sign up to be on our e-mail distribution list.
Too busy this Christmas season but still want to help?  Simply contact Jennifer Feltner and she will be in touch to confirm your availability and put you into our volunteer database to update you on future opportunities.

The following activities are available to Parishioners and others interested in volunteering for HT’s Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts:

Two representatives of our parish's task force are currently in Bay St. Louis, MS., working with the pastor of St. Rose of Lima to assess current and future needs.  We're predicting that we will be looking for volunteers to travel to Mississippi to help our friends with their recovery.  We will keep you informed of our progress.

In addition to the truckload of donated clothes, tools, supplies and gift cards, $23,615 has been collected to help with relief at St. Rose of Lima.  An additional $4,000 has been donated to assist with tuition at Strake Jesuit High School.  This money is in addition to Holy Trinity's first response of over $41,000 sent to Catholic Charities.  Please watch the bulletin for further updates.

Thanks to all of the HT Parishioners who made the effort of the Hurricane Katrina Task Force to aid the St. Rose de Lima Parish in Mississippi a great success.  Members of our parish and school were extremely generous at Camp Trinity and before and after the masses this weekend to fill a 24 foot truck with tools, clothing, shoes, cleaning supplies and other items requested by Father Sebastian of St. Rose, plus checks, gift cards and notes of hope, prayer and consolation.  The truck was driven to Mississippi on Sunday night by Parish Pastoral Council member John Bradshaw and his brother Pat, who traveled from Indianapolis to help out.  The task force will report back to the Council at its October 4 meeting on the situation in Mississippi, and bring us pictures and other information about how our new friends there are faring.  Thanks again to all who assisted in helping St. Rose de Lima last weekend.

When strong winds and a 25-30 foot storm surge almost entirely destroyed the coastal communities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland, St. Rose was one of the few buildings still standing.  This low-income, historically African American Catholic parish immediately began searching for ways to meet the needs of not only parishioners and their neighbors in Bay St. Louis but also the people of Waveland and the destroyed parish of St. Clare.

Their need:  Rebuilding these communities will be a longterm and multifaceted effort.  Most immediately, they need cleaning supplies and tools to begin the rebuilding process.  These needs will change in the months ahead.

Our response:  Parish Council member John Bradshaw will drive Holy Trinity's donated clothes, shoes, tools, gift cards, and money to St. Rose, arriving September 26.  He will assess the needs of St. Rose and determine how Holy Trinity can provide assistance.  Please contact Leslie Conwell for more information.

Sponsor A New Orleans Jesuit Student - Houston, Texas
The flood waters of Hurricane Katrina seemed to interrupt, if not terminate, the chance for a Jesuit education - until Strake opened its doors and welcomed over 400 students - roughly a 50% increase in the student population - and 20 faculty from New Orleans Jesuit High School. It now is running two shifts of classes, from 9 am to 3 pm and 3 pm to 9 pm. This is expected to continue for at least the first semester.

Their need:  Strake President Daniel Lahart, S.J., is committed to serving the New Orleans students without additional cost to the students.  But Strake needs money to pay for the longer school day, books, supplies and overtime.  Fr. Lahart and Fr. Anthony McGinn, S.J. - the president of New Orleans Jesuit HS - have launched a nationwide "Sponsor a Jesuit Student" campaign to meet the unanticipated costs.

Our response:  Holy Trinity's immediate response is to participate in this campaign by collecting funds to support the displaced students and teachers.7n  Checks may be made payable to "Strake Jesuit: Brother's Keepers."  Please consider giving generously in any amount.  Please contact Steve Skonberg for more information.