Province News

Chicago Province Jesuit Ministries Band Together
to Help Victims of Hurricane Katrina

Dear Friends,

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina throughout the Gulf Coast region has been both a shocking and consoling experience. As serious as the storm damage was to houses and businesses, it was the failure of the New Orleans’ levees on a bright sunny day after the storm that destroyed that historic city by flood.

All of us have been shocked by the devastation and the images of people being rescued from rooftops, suffering in shelters, and mourning the loss of loved ones.

We have also been consoled by the outpouring of prayers and gifts intended to help those who have lost so much in this tragedy.

The Chicago Province immediately offered its support and help to our brothers in the New Orleans Province. The province made a gift of $25,000 to help with the pressing needs such as food, clothing, and medicine for those displaced. Our international missions in Patna and Peru have also sent substantial gifts. In addition we have provided whatever logistical help we could to the New Orleans Province Office.

The ministries of the Chicago Province have also been generous in helping out their sister institutions. Loyola University Chicago and Xavier University in Cincinnati have taken in more than 200 students from Loyola New Orleans and the other schools closed by the flooding. St. Ignatius College Prep, Loyola Academy, St. Xavier High School and Brebeuf Jesuit have all accepted students from Jesuit High and other high schools in the hurricane stricken areas. These schools and Cristo Rey Jesuit High School have also held collections and mission drives that have raised thousands of dollars for relief efforts. These schools have all been overwhelmed by the generosity of families of students who have offered to take in victims from the Gulf coast states. Jesuit parishes have taken up collections of clothing and imperishables to send to the relief efforts.

Province friends and donors have been eager to help as well. From the moment news of the devastation in the Gulf region broke, Partners and friends began calling to learn how they can help the efforts there. With the New Orleans Province Offices located in the heart of the flooded area, communication with the province has been difficult. Telephone communication has been sporadic at best, but e-mail has remained up and running for the New Orleans Province. To help them meet their needs, the Chicago Province Development Office has responded to offers to help by putting in place a process to accept gifts for the New Orleans Province, which we are then able to electronically transfer to the New Orleans Province accounts. To make a contribution online please click here.

Fr. Alfred Kammer, SJ, the provincial of New Orleans, has issued a letter detailing their needs:

Needs for Donations

We know now that we have sustained or will have significant new expenses for:

• housing and feeding evacuees,
• renovations to damaged Jesuit buildings,
• alternative care for our sick and elderly,
• transportation for our infirmary residents and many other Jesuits,
• additional clothing and medicine,
• financial support of displaced lay staff,
• support to our New Orleans ministries which will have little or no income as we are allowed to return to the city and to resume our work, and
• now new demands for social, financial, and other assistance to displaced, distraught, and suffering families.

With our deepest thanks and prayers,

Rev. Michael Class, S.J.
Socius to the Provincial of Chicago

To make a contribution to the New Orleans Province and the victims of Hurricane Katrina please click here

Danielle Smith (left) and Tara Templeton, both sophomores transfer students from Loyola University New Orleans, pick up supplies at Spring Hill College's "campus shop," established to help students who were impacted by the storm. Jesuit colleges and universities across the nation have reached out to students who were victims of Hurricane Katrina. (photo by Greg Walker)		Members of the Spring Hill College community welcome visiting students from Loyola University New Orelans to campus on Sept. 6. Back row, Dr. George Sims, associate vice president for Academic Affairs; Spring Hill student Zach Moore; and Dr Frank Scully, dean of Arts and Sciences of Loyola; middle row: Loyola students Amanda DiFulco and Abby Hatch; front row: Spring Hill student Danielle Stankard. Scully, a 1968 Spring Hill grad, was on campus in early September to assist with advising. (photo by Greg Walker)