Here's a summary of the "Books of Comfort" program so far (thanks to Sr. Sharon for drawing it up!):
BOOKS OF COMFORT PROJECT
Mrs. James Hunt, a nurse and the mother of one of our sisters, was the initiator of the project Books of Comfort. She called us to suggest we do something to provide comfort to the survivors of hurricane Katrina with Pauline editions. At the same time, we Daughters of St Paul were praying and looking over our inventory to find something appropriate to distribute to the victims. As people were rescued from the Superdome in flooded New Orleans and transferred to Texas, we heard requests over and over again from the survivors: “Now that we have food and other essentials, the most important thing we need right now is a Bible.” We immediately sent out an appeal for generous people to sponsor our “Bibles and Books of Comfort” project on the Internet, in press releases and radio spots.
Bibles, the books, "Surviving Depression" and "God is Here When Bad Things Happen," small prayer books for courage and strength in times of anxiety and difficulty, coloring books for the kids, were prepared in sets to match different dollar amounts of donations from compassionate people across the country who knew “It is important to rebuild homes but it is also important to rebuild lives.”
The first donations came in a matter of a few days and we were able to start to send Bibles and comfort books to our sisters in San Antonio to distribute to the thousands of New Orleans evacuees in a large shelter nearby. The people were just thirsting for something to help them cope with the tragedy and suffering they'd experienced. Many books of comfort were distributed with the help of sisters and priests throughout the Gulf Coast. In rapid succession, 71 large packages with a total of 5,280 individual items were sent to the dioceses of Biloxi, Lake Charles for the students in 24 schools, and the New Orleans evacuees. In addition to the 174 initial donors, the Daughters of St. Paul’s communities also responded with the sisters sending their personal treasures of books and bibles and rosaries. Other sisters from Louisiana were beginning to use the Comfort Books in Bible studies with groups of evacuees they were counseling. “Thank you so much for thinking of us and helping us. We will always remember you,” were the responses from the recipients. Some donors thanked the Daughters of St Paul for giving them an opportunity to reach out by giving encouragement, comfort, and inspiration through the Books of Comfort to their brothers and sisters who were suffering so much. Also, through this apostolic project, the lives of several heroic rescue workers themselves were comforted who felt the need for inspiration and strength.
Each donor is thanked with a personal note, the name of the destination of the books and a listing of titles that their specific donation helped to send.*
We are not done yet! Donations are still coming in. We will be contacting our Sisters in New Orleans to see what are the spiritual needs of the people who have returned to the city and how we can collaborate with the diocese in its pastoral ministry to its scattered flock.
Mrs. James Hunt, a nurse and the mother of one of our sisters, was the initiator of the project Books of Comfort. She called us to suggest we do something to provide comfort to the survivors of hurricane Katrina with Pauline editions. At the same time, we Daughters of St Paul were praying and looking over our inventory to find something appropriate to distribute to the victims. As people were rescued from the Superdome in flooded New Orleans and transferred to Texas, we heard requests over and over again from the survivors: “Now that we have food and other essentials, the most important thing we need right now is a Bible.” We immediately sent out an appeal for generous people to sponsor our “Bibles and Books of Comfort” project on the Internet, in press releases and radio spots.
Bibles, the books, "Surviving Depression" and "God is Here When Bad Things Happen," small prayer books for courage and strength in times of anxiety and difficulty, coloring books for the kids, were prepared in sets to match different dollar amounts of donations from compassionate people across the country who knew “It is important to rebuild homes but it is also important to rebuild lives.”
The first donations came in a matter of a few days and we were able to start to send Bibles and comfort books to our sisters in San Antonio to distribute to the thousands of New Orleans evacuees in a large shelter nearby. The people were just thirsting for something to help them cope with the tragedy and suffering they'd experienced. Many books of comfort were distributed with the help of sisters and priests throughout the Gulf Coast. In rapid succession, 71 large packages with a total of 5,280 individual items were sent to the dioceses of Biloxi, Lake Charles for the students in 24 schools, and the New Orleans evacuees. In addition to the 174 initial donors, the Daughters of St. Paul’s communities also responded with the sisters sending their personal treasures of books and bibles and rosaries. Other sisters from Louisiana were beginning to use the Comfort Books in Bible studies with groups of evacuees they were counseling. “Thank you so much for thinking of us and helping us. We will always remember you,” were the responses from the recipients. Some donors thanked the Daughters of St Paul for giving them an opportunity to reach out by giving encouragement, comfort, and inspiration through the Books of Comfort to their brothers and sisters who were suffering so much. Also, through this apostolic project, the lives of several heroic rescue workers themselves were comforted who felt the need for inspiration and strength.
Each donor is thanked with a personal note, the name of the destination of the books and a listing of titles that their specific donation helped to send.*
We are not done yet! Donations are still coming in. We will be contacting our Sisters in New Orleans to see what are the spiritual needs of the people who have returned to the city and how we can collaborate with the diocese in its pastoral ministry to its scattered flock.
*From Sr. Anne: I'm not sure that all donors were able to be thanked in this way; we received many cash donations here in Chicago. So if you didn't get a personal thank-you and all the accompanying information, the good was still done, so THANK YOU!
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