IMAGE: CNS photo/Christine Bordelon, The Clarion Herald
By Christine Bordelon
BEAUMONT,
Texas (CNS) — Hope. That’s what 50-plus volunteers from a Louisiana Catholic
parish offered to those devastated by Hurricane Harvey as part of a pre-dawn
caravan of six 18-wheelers with donated supplies to Texas Sept. 9.
“We
are so glad to see you,” a Beaumont resident told the group from St. Catherine
of Siena Parish as they arrived at the first Texas stop. “God bless you.”
The
stop was a warehouse run by Catholic Charities of Greater Beaumont that served
as a storage and distribution site for food, water, hygiene and cleaning
supplies, baby food, diapers and more for parishes and people in need.
The
caravan left St. Catherine of Siena in Metairie, Louisiana, at 4:30 a.m., and
the bus of volunteers arrived back home at midnight. In Beaumont, the first
stop, volunteers first unloaded 18-wheelers already on site before unloading
three of their own that had been part of the six-hour convoy from Metairie.
Catholic
Charities staff and volunteers greeted the Metairie travelers with thanks and a
prayer offered by Bishop Curtis J. Guillory, head of the Beaumont Diocese since
2000. A native of Mallet, Louisiana, he served in the Archdiocese of New
Orleans from 1974 to 1988.
He
said the greatest signs after a disaster are the individuals rushing to aid
others, no matter their race or belief.
“With
you people here, it is a sign of hope,” Bishop Guillory said. “It gives us
encouragement. We realize we are not in this alone.”
The
Diocese of Beaumont’s devastation was comparable to Hurricane Rita’s damage in
2005 and Ike’s in 2008, Bishop Guillory said. This time, relentless rain badly
damaged 12 of 50 churches in the diocese, three schools and sent 8 feet of
water into Holy Family Retreat Center.
“It’s
been very bad,” Bishop Guillory said.
Recovery
continues in southern Texas after Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on the region Aug.
25-30. In a four-day period, many areas received more than 40 inches of rain.
Flooding inundated hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced more than 30,000
people, and prompted more than 17,000 rescues. At least 70 people died.
At
St. Ann School in Orange, Texas, all staff members except the principal had
water in their homes, and there was no running water for three days, with a
boil advisory remaining two weeks later due to pumps flooding.
“That’s
what we are facing here,” Bishop Guillory said. “But through it all, you see
the goodness of people. God speaks through storms, and through the people.”
Carol
Fernandez, executive director and president of Catholic Charities Southeast
Texas, concurred with Bishop Guillory. Fernandez was living in New Orleans in
2005 and lost her home in Katrina.
“I
can’t say thank you enough,” Fernandez said. “It is so awesome bringing love
from my hometown and all over the nation. Volunteers are providing help and
creating hope. This is what it is we do (as Catholics) – helping people but at
the same time reminding people that they are loved and not forgotten.”
She
estimated that her agency would be distributing needed items for four to six
weeks.
From
Beaumont, three of the 18-wheelers continued west to a Knights of Columbus council
and St. Vincent de Paul distribution center and thrift store on the east side
of Houston.
Knights
from the Archdiocese Galveston-Houston opened Council 3077 headquarters to be
used as a drive-through for individuals needing supplies and food donated by
the Houston Food Bank and other generous individuals.
The
last of the 18-wheelers arrived at the St. Vincent de Paul Vincentian Center in
east Houston, serving as the central warehouse and thrift store frequented by
the area’s surrounding Hispanic population, said Christina Deajon, who is vice
chancellor of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and a liaison to St. Vincent de Paul and other social agencies.
“We
are their family and have relationships with them,” she told a reporter from
the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the New Orleans Archdiocese. “We are a regular
source of food for many people.”
Pallets
of rice, tissue paper, paper towels, food, clothing, etc., were pulled from the
trucks, and Deajon said some remained at the location to stock its food pantry
and thrift store “where people can come and get what they need.”
Sixty
parishes have St. Vincent de Paul councils, Deajon said, and many Vincentians
were trained to help affected families navigate recovery services at the local,
state and national level.
“This
is taking the recovery center and putting it in a community that has been
severely impacted,” she said. Deajon noted that more than 61 Catholic sites,
primarily church parishes, reported varying degrees of damage. Six sites —
including four churches whose sanctuaries were underwater, the Christian
Renewal Retreat Center and diocesan Cemeteries Office — reported catastrophic
damage. A Knights council in Dickinson was destroyed.
St.
Catherine volunteers saw their effort as a repayment of kindnesses Texas
bestowed on Louisianians during Katrina. The parish also had sent
supplies to Baton Rouge in 2016.
“We
saw who it was helping and how it affected people, and we wanted to do this as
a family (his wife and daughter accompanied him) and a parish community,” said
Wayne Francingues, past Men’s Club co-president. “I think we all saw how
desperate our area was for Katrina, and Houston helped us and Baton Rouge
helped us, so it was easy to give back. We understand that desperation you feel
and know little things like we did in Texas can help.”
Father
Tim Hedrick, parochial vicar of St. Catherine of Siena, was proud to be part of
such a generous parish that recognized a need and worked hard to fill it. St.
Pius X Parish and Archbishop Chapelle High School also donated supplies to the
relief effort.
“And
something even greater was that we showed them the love of Christ and gave them
hope during their difficult time,” he said. “Our motto (at St. Catherine of
Siena) is ‘Centered on Christ and Ablaze With Love.’ This really shows that we
as a community are trying to live that out at St. Catherine.”
The priest
quoted St. Catherine of Siena, the parish’s patron saint, “Be who God created
you to be, and you will set the world on fire. As Christians, we are called to
be the hands and feet of Christ and that’s who we were today.”
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Bordelon is associate editor of the Clarion Herald, newspaper of
the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
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