Mennonite Group Works to Rebuild Homes, Spirits

LITITZ, PA - Rebuilding a community from the ruins of natural disasters requires more than hammers and strong arms. There's emotional damage, too, and those repairs can be the biggest challenge.

That's one key lesson that members of the Mennonite Disaster Service have learned over 61 years responding to the devastation and heartbreak of earthquakes, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes. The group has a simple, hands-on mission getting people back in their homes but they know they'll do much more.

"We see ourselves as facilitators," said Kevin King of Lititz, Pa., the group's executive director. Volunteers often show up ready with hammers or chain saws, only to find that the first thing people need is someone to talk to.

MDS has sent teams in recent months to help rebuild towns in tornado-ravaged Alabama, Mississippi, and Joplin, Mo., as well as help flood victims in Minot, N.D. It has had crews working in Louisiana and on the Mississippi and Alabama coasts since Hurricane Katrina devastated the region in 2005.

And while some Mennonites and Amish have a tradition of not interacting with modern society, that isn't the case during disasters. The group works with state and federal agencies as well as other churches and secular aid groups.

MDS, with administrative offices in the Lancaster County, Pa., borough of Lititz, has about 3,000 Mennonite, Amish and Brethren in Christ congregations throughout the U.S. and Canada that contribute volunteers and funds. In 2010, the group's total U.S. revenue was about $3.7 million.

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Philly Tickets Good Samaritan

No good deed goes unpunished.

George, 45, was looking for a parking spot in Philadelphia when he saw a car strike an older woman. He immediately pulled over to the truck-loading zone, popped on his blinkers, and ran over to help, reports the Inquirer. George calmed the 15victim and the shaken driver and helped direct traffic until the police and EMT arrived.

As the medics lifted the woman into the ambulance, he noticed a parking enforcement officer writing him a ticket. He had parked in a no-parking spot, and despite the intervention of an officer on the scene, several clerks and supervisors refused to waive the ticket until a reporter for the local paper called and started asking questions.

Good Samaritan ticketed, dissed by PPA's agents of contempt [The Inquirer]

from Ben Popken @ The Consumerist

Stop the Violence Kick-Off

Drop in to the Calloway Street Gym – 507 Calloway Street in Salisbury – and help kick-off this worthwhile project.
The Kick-Off event will begin at 6:00 PM on Thursday.

Stop the Violence Kick-Off

Drop in to the Calloway Street Gym – 507 Calloway Street in Salisbury – and help kick-off this worthwhile project.

The Kick-Off event will begin at 6:00 PM on Thursday.

Beebe Receives $3 Million Donation

The Beebe Medical Center in Lewes says it has received the largest donation in its 95-year history.

The hospital announced last week that it received a $3 million donation from the Ma-Ran Foundation, a group based in Atlanta and established by Margaret and R. Randall Rollins. It will allow Beebe to fast-track the construction of a new nursing school.

The school will be named after Margaret Rollins, a longtime supporter of the hospital who grew up in Lewes and worked in the hospital's administrative offices.

The $3 million donation is double the size of the second-largest gift of $1.5 million by the Tunnell family for Beebe's cancer center.

The Beebe School of Nursing is the only hospital-based nursing program in Delaware.

from the Daily Times

Stop the Violence Kick-Off Thursday, July 7th

Yes, we know that we posted their press release earlier today.  We just received the art work.

This looks like a great program.  You should stop by on Thursday to see what they’re doing.  Maybe you can help out.

Snow Hill Students Donate to Animal Shelter

Snow Hill Middle School (SHMS) teacher MaryAnn Cooperand students Heather Bolley, Katlyn Parsons and Ian Whisner distribute food,treats, leashes and other supplies to Worcester County Animal Control. SHMS After School Academy students in grades 4-8 collected the supplies to help care for abused and neglected animals rescued by Animal Control.

Bill Gates, Donors Pledge $4.3 Billion for Vaccines

International donors led by Britain and Bill Gates pledged $4.3 billion on Monday to buy vaccines to protect children in poor countries against potential killers such as diarrheal diseases and pneumonia.

The funding should allow more than 250 million of the world's poorest children to be vaccinated by 2015, helping to prevent more than four million premature deaths, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) said.

"Today is an important moment in our collective commitment to protecting children in developing countries from disease," said Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who attended the pledging conference in London. "But every 20 seconds, a child still dies of a vaccine-preventable disease. There's more work to be done."

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has defended increased spending on aid at a time of sharp domestic spending cuts, pledged $1.3 billion — almost a third of the total raised, which was more than the $3.7 billion GAVI had hoped for.

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Chicago-area Man Returns Bag With $17,000

A 54-year-old Chicago-area man who found and returned more than $17,000 in cash credits his deceased parents for teaching him right from wrong.

Robert Adams of Arlington Heights says he was waiting to use an ATM in Rolling Meadows, when he noticed a clear plastic bag containing mostly $20 and $100 bills.

Adams tried to return the bag with "Chase" written on it to a nearby bank branch but employees said it didn't belong to them. Police determined it was under the care of Loomis, an armored truck company.

Loomis says they are investigating, but have not said whether Adams will get a reward.

Adams told the Daily Herald (Arlington Heights): "I don't care if you put another zero on there, I wasn't raised to take money that isn't mine."

from MSNBC / Associated Press

SbyNEWS Motivates Woman to Come to Aid of Church

Last January, SbyNEWS ran a post detailing the theft of over $600 of heating oil from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Hebron.  Yesterday an SbyNEWS reader from Howard County called to offer assistance to the small parish.

Yesterday afternoon I received a call from Carol (last name withheld).  She told me that she had acquired a property in Ellicott City and was renovating the HVAC system.  She had come across the post in SbyNEWS and she wanted to know if St. Paul’s still needed assistance.  Carol offered 300+ gallons of heating oil, the tank, and a 4 year old furnace from the property.

I got in contact with Fr. Ron Knapp at St. Paul’s.  He is contacting Carol.

Not only was I gratified by this experience, it left me in awe of the generosity of SbyNEWS’s readers.

Thanks!