Tornado Help

http://otritt.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/tornado-help/

The above link will take you the letter written by Father Shaun Whittington, Diocese of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is asking for help for Osgood, Indiana, the town he is serving in as it was hit hard by a tornado last week. We have a special place in our hearts for Fr. Whittington, he was one of the first clients for Impressus Art and shared our information with many seminarians, allowing our little business to grow a bit and kept our family fed during lean times.

JESUS, MARY, JOSEPH

Dear Friends,

St John the Baptist in Osgood, Indiana is working with Catholic Charities to assist the victims of the recent tornadoes.

Since Friday evening we have been giving emergency assistance. We have distributed several truckloads of emergency supplies and direct funding to our neighbors in need.  Today while making a delivery to an affected area, we were also able to give them $600 (from generous donations) that they needed to purchase children’s underwear. This morning we provided emergency food service to the town of Holten and tomorrow we are doing the same. But we need your help.  We have direct access to the devastated communities through Catholic Charities.  We are in need of the supplies listed below. Please be assured that every item is going directly to our neighbors that are in dire need.

St. John the Baptist  331 S Buckeye St, Osgood, Indiana 47037

Donations accepted behind the church near the red brick building.

9 am – dusk this week

Items needed: underwear & socks – all sizes (especially children’s)

coats – all sizes

infant formulas, baby food, wipes,diapers,

    personal care items: toothpastes & brushes, deodorant, soap, shampoo, razors, combs & brushes
cleaning items: buckets, trash cans, mops, paper towels, disinfectants, toilet paper

Also: A 27 year old young man was a victim of the tornado and financial assistance is needed  to send his body home to his mother after his funeral in Osgood. Tragically, just 10 days ago, the man’s sister was killed in an accident in his hometown in Mexico. Please pray for this mother and her deceased children.  The local funeral home (Neal’s Funeral Home) is discounting services, but we still need to fund the transport of his body.

   Further, we have had several families in our parish lose all or part of their property: One woman lost her entire home ( Mary Ann Holt, who was featured on msnbc’s homepage Sunday morning). One family lost all outbuildings - their home business. They had just become foster parents of six siblings. An elder of the local Baptist church (a good friend of the parish — our plumber) lost his new house. Many of our farmers — your food producers — lost their barns, silos, tractors, etc.  We still don’t know the extent of the damage.

Monetary donations may be given or mailed. Checks payable to “St John the Baptist”, ”tornado” in memo line. Money will be used for the transport to Mexico of our brother in the faith, distributed locally, and then, if there are any surplus funds, these will be forwarded to Catholic Charities of Indianapolis which will spread it throughout the needy of Indiana.

Please no clothing (other than coats) nor larger household items at this time. We are unable to store these items and they are not yet needed.

Questions to Fr. Whittington at cell 317-750-0647 orfr.whittington@gmail.com.  Please also follow us on Facebook at “Ripley County Garage Sale”

Thank you and may God bless you for your charity!  Please pray for the victims of the recent tornadoes,

Fr. Whittington

PS– Please pray for our “Key Committee” who are working around the clock for disaster assistance representing the following groups: Knights of Columbus Council 8487, Boy Scout Troop 639, St. John’s Catholic Women, Building & Grounds Committee, and many others!