Green Bay Church Spearheads Massive Sandy Relief Effort
By: Matt Leach
Updated: November 18, 2012
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) Pack it, tape it, ship it and repeat.
That has been the mission at Atonement Lutheran Church for the past week and a half.
"There have been people just stopping in from the neighborhood and community who have heard that his is going on," says Pastor Jim Gerth.
Pastor Jim's church is spearheading an effort to get much needed supplies to victims of Hurricane Sandy. Schools, churches and other organizations from across Northeastern Wisconsin have contributed, enough to fill a 53-foot trailer.
"We're starting now on the seventeenth pallet, and each pallet is about $1,500 worth of merchandise," says Gerth.
The truck will ship out to Elmsford, NY, just north of New York City on Monday morning. Until then, volunteers spend night and day organizing aid.
"I can do a little bit each day, and by the end of it, I feel like I've been able to help," says volunteer Corina Gerczak.
"We want them to know that they are not forgotten, we want them to know that there are people here who care about them," says Sharon Schneider.
Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt attended a send off prayer service for the truck with about twenty volunteers Sunday evening.
"This is Green Bay, and I couldn't be more proud of the effort that was made," says Mayor Schmitt.
Pastor Jim estimates people have contributed over 23,000 pounds of food and other items, but he says, the job isn't finished.
"Really, I hope that this is only the beginning of ways in which Green Bay and other communities discover how they can respond in a system of rebuilding," says Gerth.
