Gentlepersons:

God sent a group of angels to me in May of this year and they worked diligently for five days to gut my home and utility building which were ruined by Katrina.

Never in my long life of 92 years have I seen a more inspiring group of beautiful people. I knew they were toiling in unfamiliar hard dirty work. But from their joyful demeanor one would think they were on a picnic.

Each day I spent several hours observing these angels who gave me love and comfort. Never was I left alone as I sat on my neighbor’s porch while they gutted my house. Each day I truly felt “This is the day the Lord has made.” I was reminded of something a man named Paul has said: “Faith without works is dead” and I mused “these people are indeed alive and well. Please bear with me while I continue to pour forth in my admiration of them—I just can’t help it. The official name of the group was “Team Beard.” Among them was a hard working lady who is pastor of their church—a veritable Good Shepherd.

“Team Beard” was composed of twelve apostles who worked so hard each of the five epochal days. In fact one of the men fell asleep on his lunch break with a sandwich in his hand. What a tribute to a devout worker!

I am fully aware that your church had a great number of workers all over the country. At one of the outings I was privileged to attend I met fine young people from the Midwest and Northeast. What a wonder to behold!!!

I wanted you to know how much I appreciate the gifts corporal and spiritual I received.
Sincerely,

Warren A. Gregoire
Jefferson, Louisiana

Dear Presbyterian Disaster Assistance,

I own a very small restaurant in Gautier, Mississippi, an area hit hard by Hurricane Katrina.

I want to say to you and all of the other wonderful Presbyterians who have come here to help us reclaim our lives, repair our properties and provide much needed food and other life necessities, how much we all thank you. Trust me when I say that without you, none of us would have had much hope.

As I am sure you know, insurance companies have been just a nightmare in paying claims. Contractors have jacked up their prices so that most of us cannot possibly afford them, and housing is almost non-existent. It doesn’t matter if you are here to help clear a yard or repair a roof (and anything in between), you will never know how valuable you have been to us. I personally know of hundreds here in my small community that would still be living in dangerous, filthy and uninhabitable conditions had it not been for the loving, cheerful and oh-so-needed helpful assistance you have provided to us.

In the Bible, Jesus said over and over to Love your fellow man and to be (I am paraphrasing here) good to each other. You and the other Presbyterians have certainly followed His wishes. To me, all of you are angels here on earth. You came to us in our time of crisis and gave us your hearts, your talents, your time and your dedication. You have shown us that Christianity is love and it matters not what our race, education, financial status or even personal beliefs may be (or not be in some cases!)—you love us.

How in the world does one adequately thank thousands and thousands of angels? I certainly am not educated enough to ever be able to express how grateful we are. All I know to do is to say from my heart (and the hearts of my fellow residents) we thank you, we love you and we have learned from you the true meaning of His love.

Sincerely,
S. Wilson

Dear One Great Hour of Sharing coordinator,

The Church of Gethsemane is a unique congregation of men and women who have been in prison, their families, and others who are in solidarity with them.

Our congregations is economically disadvantaged, and most of our members struggle to find jobs and housing when released from prison.

Yet our session decided to take a special offering on Easter for One Great Hour of Sharing, so that members could share what little they have with others in need in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and beyond.

Please accept the enclosed check for $135.67 from the 42 people present in worship at Easter.

Blessing and Peace,
Elizabeth Alexander, pastor
Brooklyn, New York

Dear Presbyterian Hunger Program:

ON behalf of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, I would like to thank you for your commitment to fighting hunger and poverty, and for your extraordinarily generous gift to support our Interfaith Voices Against Hunger Program.

Your support is vital in enabling us to expand our advocacy, technical assistance, neighborhood network meetings, and benefits outreach efforts to soup kitchens and food pantries in order to help more hungry New Yorkers move beyond the soup kitchen, towards economic self-sufficiency.
Sincerely,

Joel Berg, executive director
New York City Coalition Against Hunger

Dear Self-Development of People

Our partnership with Self-Development of People has been rewarding. Not all funders understand the relationship between services, education and action, and the importance of having the people who benefit be the people who are involved as opposed to a charity model or a purely activist model. We are very grateful for your support.

Sincerely,
Low Income Self Help Center

Dear OGHS,

We send our sincere greetings to you and our heartfelt gratitude for joining us in this struggle.

We are sending you a report of our activities for the first six months of this year, which were able to be carried out thanks to the solidarity of the Presbyterian Church. Without your help and support, it would have been extremely difficult for our organization to subsist.

Your prophetic vision and your desire for the creation of God’s Kingdom consistent with the Gospel and the readings of the signs of the times, gives people like us hope, who similar to Jesus, are being persecuted.

May God bless you and give you enough strength to continue with your mission.

Diana Mejia
Wind of the Spirit
Morristown, New Jersey

To Gulfport Village 3 Manager,

On behalf of the Mission Team, I would like to thank you for allowing us to live and work at Village 3 during the week of April 24–28.

Our little team of 15 people (from Ontario, Canada) had a life-changing experience by assisting in the Hurricane Katrina Relief clean up and rebuilding.

Please accept this small donation to support your important work with the Gulf Coast people.

Sincerely,
Rev. Susan Samuel, Knox Presbyterian Church

Dear SDOP,

The Self Development of People gave us hope and trust and then we discovered that we Filipino domestic workers can do a lot to help ourselves not just in job training and job referral but in reclaiming our self respect and dignity as human beings. Your funding was crucial in building Damayan Migrant Workers Association that is now giving us the education and empowerment so that we can assert our rights as workers and as immigrants.

We are deeply grateful and moved by the compassion and humanity of the Self Development of People Program. We met Cynthia White and Pastor Paul Lucia once be we feel like we have known the SDOP people very well. Your staff are professional and reliable and we can feel that they are also humble, sincere and committed to helping small groups like Damayan get a chance to do something to help their community.
We hope that we have shown our responsibility, reliability, competence and determination to be worthy of the grant that you have given to our organization.

Blessings,
Damayan Migrant Workers Association

We would like to become partners forever. I hate to see this relationship end. It has been like talking with an older sister or brother; someone who actually cares for you and has compassion for the people in the neighborhood in which you reside. Our partnership with SDOP has been very consistent and has helped motivate us to do more and not to give up.

Please continue offering help and hope for a dying world. We are glad that in America there are churches that have organizations within the church designed to give hope to a dying world. Our neighborhood was a part of that dying world; forgotten, neglected, ignored, just like the poor people of Africa or the starving people in Haiti, we, Trinity Gardens folks, have the homeless, the needy, and the working poor. BUT GOD, sent you to help bring back hope for those who have seen nothing but hopelessness. Again, thank you so much for throwing out the lifeline to a dying community and coming to our rescue/assistance.

Bay Area Coalition, Inc.

Dear Self Development of People,

About all I must express our profound gratitude and appreciation for the great financial support to OPARD—SL, and I am very pleased to report to you that this help have help to change the life style of our most vulnerable war affected widows in our communities to a credible and decent living, this help to promote their welfare and improve on their living standard.

May Almighty God richly reward you and the entire family of SDOP. I hope one day you or a member of your organization would actually come and see how your support help to improved the life style of the most vulnerable war widows to a better standard.
Thank you so much and God bless our relationship.

Yours in Christ,
Brother Ahmen Muckson Sesay
Organization for Peace Reconciliation and Development, Sierra Leone, West Africa

Dear Madam Cynthia White,

Christian greetings from Believers for Progress and Development (Be PAD) Association, Philippines.

We are very glad to informed the Self Development of People (SDOP) that we are now submitting here with our Narrative Report and Financial Statement, regarding the activities of BePAD Association here in the Philippines.

We are very thankful to God that your group, SDOP, was the instrument that God uses to help the less fortunate people like us here in the Philippines.

Thank you very much to God and to SDOP and please include us in your prayers for the success of our project.

God Bless us All
In Christ Jesus,
Rustom C. Beronila
BePAD Association Chairman
Philippines

Dear Presbyterian Hunger Program:

On behalf of the board of directors, founders and staff of Global Exchange, we would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to the Presbyterian Hunger Program for your continued support of our Sweatfree Campaign. We have received your contribution which will be used to support the campaign activities as outlined in the proposal.

We are optimistic that Berkeley will pass a sweatfree city ordinance within the next six months, providing yet another exciting example for cities across the nation to follow.

e are also working closely with coalitions in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, on passing Sweatfree policies in their respective cities. The continued support and partnership of the Presbyterian Hunger Program will help us build and expand this powerful Sweatfree movement, supporting the rights and improving the conditions for thousands of workers both in the U.S. and around the world.

Thank you again for your commitment to our shared vision. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with you.

Kirsten Moller, executive director
Global Exchange
San Francisco, California

On behalf of Isles, I would like to sincerely thank the Presbyterian Hunger Program, as well as the generous congregations that make up the Northeastern Synod, for the recent grant. Your support helps Isles to achieve its mission of fostering more self-reliant families in healthy, sustainable communities.

In 2005, Isles’ organic community gardens will contribute 55,000 pounds of produce to the Trenton food stream. These gardens lend both nutrition and stability to the food supply of over 3,000 Trenton residents. For the 21 percent of Trenton’s population who live in poverty, growing their own fresh produce is an important way to stretch food budgets, fight hunger, and take ownership in their communities.

In 2006, Isles ill continue to offer technical assistance, tools, and educational opportunities to residents who greatly need direct food assistance; work toward creating a network of churches to serve as distribution centers for affordable, fresh produce; and work to create school-based gardens in Trenton to disseminate both produce and knowledge of gardening among younger residents.

In Community,
Catharine M. Vaucher, V.P., Resource Development
Isles
Trenton, New Jersey

Dear Presbyterian Hunger Program,

Thank you so very much for the donation from the Presbyterian Hunger Program for development of an Interfaith Hospitality Network in an area of critical need. Your support for the IHN program has been outstanding and we are grateful for it.

In the months since we applied to the Presbyterian Hunger Program last July, 14 new Interfaith Hospitality Networks have opened their doors to homeless families. There are now 110 Network affiliates helping low-income families in 36 states.

The IHNs served more than 27,500 low-income people in 2004. Eighty-three percent of IHN guest families secured permanent or transitional housing while staying in the Networks.

It is also our goal that IHNs provide direct food relief by making food available to families in need, while also equipping advocates to work for change in the systemic causes of hunger and poverty. The IHNs are now serving as fertile ground for our Just eighbors education and advocacy efforts.

The Presbyterian Hunger Program’s generous support and faith in our efforts means so much to all of us at Family Promise.

Sincerely,
Karen Olson, president
Family Promise (formerly Interfaith Hospitality Network)
Summit, New Jersey

Dear People of the Presbyterian Church and the Disaster Assistant,

Words cannot express my thanks to your group enough for the great work you have done I getting my home at 961 Germain St., New Orleans, Louisiana.

The people I met seemed to be so dedicated in their volunteer work. I wish I could have pitched in and helped them had my health permitted it.

I almost felt like the people were old friends of mine. They did several thinks like finding things that I thought were lost that was so great.

Again I’ll say I just don’t know how to thank each one of you.

I wish I could send now to the fund. You do such good work.

I will keep you in my prayers and My God Bless You All.

June Kunz

Dear Mr. Robinson,

Our church wishes to acknowledge receipt of the check for $10,000 for Disaster Relief Assistance.

But mostly we wish to express our gratitude for said assistance.

The unexpected damages incurred from the hurricanes are unexpected expenses we were not planning on having to deal with. And with the high deductibles, insurance was not one we could count on.

We thank God for bringing your assistance our way.

May He continue to bless you and your work also.

Sincerely,
Rodolfo Perez
Chairman of the Board
Primera Iglesia Presbyteriana Hispanan
Miami, Florida

Dear. Mr. Robinson

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Task Force for the $10,000 we received for damages sustained during Hurricane Wilma. Thanks to your generosity we will be able to re-roof our office/Sunday school building in the near future. We greatly appreciate your help.

\ Blessings,
Dr. Gary D. Cecil, pastor
Palms West Presbyterian Church
Royal Palm Beach, Florida