Florida

Bahamas
Synod

Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America

3838 W. Cypress St
Tampa, FL 33607
813-876-7660
813-870-0826 fax

Iglesia Evangélica

Luterana en América
en español

Volunteers Urgently Needed

for Florida Recovery Effort

9 September 2005

Lutheran Disaster Response--Team Florida has issued the following request.

The state of Florida has urgent need for volunteers!  We still have need of people to aid in rebuilding homes from the storms of 2004.  Now, in 2005, we have been visited by Hurricane Dennis and Hurricane Katrina, so the need is even greater.   The hurricane victims in the State of Florida need our help!

In Florida we have 41 Long-Term Recovery Committees – each committee needs volunteers to help rebuild homes in its respective area.  They need people that can help put on roofs, put up and finish drywall, do carpentry, concrete, tote, carry and clean up.

A few Long-Term Recovery Committees (LTRC) have access to some form of housing for volunteers, but most do not.  Some can have local churches and other groups offer an evening meal or more.  Some have tools, some do not.

We ask that you determine the areas that you would like to work and then contact us.  Let us know what preferences you have (working with elderly, farmworkers, single parent, poor, other) and what skills your group has.  We encourage individuals and couples to register, we can add you to other teams of like-minded people looking for service.   

We can let you know what each LTRC in the area you wish to work has to offer, what their needs are and answer your other questions.  Then we will give you a contact and their phone to work out arrangements.  You can always call us if you are not sure it is a good fit for you and we will work out something for you.

We have a basic questionnaire and skills sheet that we request you fill out for each member of the group so we will better be able to utilize your services.  You may fill out the sheet online at: http://www.lsfnet.org/Volunteers/volunteer-disaster.asp.

Below is a listing of counties that may need help.  If you have family, friends or a partner church that can offer housing for you and/or your group, you would want to let us know, so we can put you in touch with the LTRC in that area.

Areas (by County)

South:               Miami-Dade (Hialeah, Homestead, Miami, Miami Beach)

                        Monroe (Key West, Key Largo, Marathon)

                        Broward (Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach)

                        Palm Beach (Boca Raton - Delray Beach - Jupiter - West Palm Beach)

                        Martin (Hobe Sound - Indiantown - Port Mayaka)

Central:             Desoto (Arcadia, Nocatee)

                       Glades (Moore Haven)

                       Hardee ( Bowling Green, Limestone, Wauchula, Zolpho Springs)

                       Hendry (Clewiston)

                       Highlands (Avon Park, Sebring, Lake Placid)

                       Lake/Sumter (Bushnell, Leesburg, Tavares, Clermont)

                       Orange (Orlando, Winter Park)

                       Osceola (Kissimmee, St. Cloud)

                       Polk (Haines City, Ft. Meade, Lakeland, Lake Wales, Winter Haven)

East Coast         Brevard (Melbourne, Merritt Island, Palm Bay)

                       Indian River (Indian River Shores, Sebastian, Vero Beach)

                       Okeechobee (Okeechobee)

                       St. Lucie (Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie)

                       Volusia (Daytona Beach, Deltona, Ormond Beach, Port Orange)

West Coast:       Charlotte (Port Charlotte - Punta Gorda)

                        Citrus (Crystal River, Homosassa, Inverness, Hernando, Lecanto)

                        Collier (Immokalee, Naples)

                        Hernando (Brooksville, Spring Hill)

                        Hillsborough (Brandon, Plant City, Tampa)

                        Lee (Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, Sanibel, Pine Island, Bonita Springs)

                        Manatee (Anna Maria, Bradenton, Longboat Key)

                        Pasco (Dade City, New Port Richey, Port Richey, Zephyrhills)

                        Pinellas (Clearwater, Dunedin, Largo, Palm Harbor, St. Petersburg)

                        Sarasota (Englewood, Sarasota, Venice)

North                Alachua (Alachua, Gainesville)

Northwest:        Bay (Panama City, Panama City Beach)

(Panhandle)       Calhoun (Altha, Blountstown)

                       Escambia (Pensacola - West Pensacola)

                       Franklin (Apalachicola, Lanark Village)

                       Gulf (Port St. Joe)              

                       Holmes (Bonifay, Ponce de Leon)

                       Jackson (Marianna, Malone)

                       Liberty (Bristol)

                       Okaloosa (Destin, Fort Walton Beach)

                       Santa Rosa (Munson, Bagdad, Oriole Beach)

                       Walton (Paxton, De Funiak Springs, Miramar)

                       Washington (Chipley, Ebro)

For more information about volunteering to assist in Florida, contact: Stew Gaylord, LSF/LDR Florida Volunteer Coordinator, by cell at (863) 521-0073 or by email at stewgaylord@earthlink.net.

Danielle Kearney

Lutheran Disaster Response--Team Florida

Lutheran Services Florida

3627A W. Waters Ave.

Tampa, Florida 33614

813-875-1408 or 800-651-1853

www.lsfnet.org