New Relief Organization in Philadelphia Area
According to their website...
Charity In Action is a recently conceived, rapidly evolving organization dedicated to helping those in need. Our immediate mission is to contribute to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Our current base of operations is in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania; however we are coordinating with a wide network of church groups, military bases, federal, state and local agencies.We are a group of volunteers, many of whom are associated with the Swedenborgian faith. The Bryn Athyn Society of the General Church is currently sponsoring some of our activities. We welcome any and all to join us.
Charity In Action is just getting off the ground. They are not yet registered as a non-profit, and are principally focused right now on acting as a coordinating body. (Stay tuned, though, as they very well may become a tax-deductable fund raising organization as well.)
Among the efforts that Charity In Action is coordinating are the following:
- Sending a truck of supplies from the New Christian church in Ivyland, Pennsylvania to a pastor in Mississippi overseeing a shelter;
- FEMA- and U.S. Military-approved truck shipments full of relief supplies and Home Depot and Lowes gift cards from Bryn Athyn to various shelters in Gulport and Biloxi—including Orange Grove Elementary School, Bel Aire Elementary School, Gulf Port Central Elementary School, Seabee Memorial Chapel, and Gulf Port Salvation Army Shelter—under the coordination of a Navy Chaplain (attached to a Seabees unit in Gulfport) who is also a New Christian minister;
- Short-term shelter and long-term housing planning for some of the people displaced into the Philadelphia area; and
- Cards, notes, pictures, etc., for those effected, created by children wanting to provide comfort and sympathy.
As their site says, this is a faith-based organization whose organizers are members of the New Christian (Swedenborgian) religion—specifically the Bryn Athyn Society of the General Church. If you're unfamiliar with New Christianity, you can learn more at NewChurch.org. If you are a reader of Swedenborg or merely someone who wants to help their neighbor, if you are in the Philadelphia area or a thousand miles away, if you want to volunteer time, supply goods, provide transportation, or donate money or gift cards, there's a need at Charity In Action that you can fill.
For more information and details, go to their website. To join the effort immediately and get on their mailing list, send an email to subscribe@CharityInAction.org.
[Technorati: flood aid, hurricane katrina]