A disaster relief team from St. Matthew’s and three Maryland United Methodist Churches drove to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to aid recovery efforts for hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  The team departed January 7^th & returned January 15th.     

The 17 person team included St Matthews UMC Bowie: Team Leader: Irene Schneider, Pete & Pat Eagen, Chuck McClurg, Bill Schneider & Debra Marshall-Hakes;
Faith UMC Rockville: Martha Phillips-Patrick & Jessica Phillips-Patrick;
Otterbein UMC Hagerstown:  Jo Anna Clark, Elinor Smith & Dave Toms;
Davidsonville UMC Davidsonville: Rev. Jim Stutler, Roger & Vonda Vales, Rusty & Susan Lamar & Blair Smith.  

Driving to/from Mississippi took two days. In Mississippi, team members found seeing the devastation first-hand overwhelming – no houses, no stores, trees broken, bridges and roads washed away, debris everywhere.   

Living arrangements were a bare minimum – “Tent City”.    Team members worked on several projects in Bay St. Louis and nearby area - debris removal, restoring electrical wiring, dry wall, assisting at the residential supply tent, and sharing God's love.  

There was lots of hard physical labor and... an opportunity to meet and aid people whose way of life was destroyed, people who were grateful for aid in doing the hard, hard work of re-building their lives.

Team Leader Report here
(PDF file - 500 KB)