Batavia church will hear about needs of the Gulf Coast

Although Hurricane Katrina struck nearly two years ago, recovery efforts are far from completed, and volunteers are needed to continue the efforts.

This is the message of Dale Kimball, executive director of Northshore Disaster Recovery in Slidell, La.

Kimball will speak on disaster relief at 7 p.m. Thursday at Batavia United Methodist Church, 8 N. Batavia Ave. (Route 31).

"The New Orleans convention bureau has done a good job convincing people that things are fine, but this doesn't help the homeowner," Kimball said in a telephone interview. "We're a long way from being fully recovered. And without volunteers, the recovery is over."

Kjimball said there is much work to be done in Mid-City and east New Orleans, in the 9th Ward there; in parts of the Mississippi Gulf Coast; and in towns along the Mississippi River.

The Batavia church will be just one stop of several that Kimball will make in the Chicago area. He will also take his Power Point presentation to Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin.

"We get a lot of our volunteers from the Midwest," he said, adding that a prior tour brought enough volunteers for a year.

Kimball's agency was established in October 2005 and is located at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Slidell. It is funded by grants and by donations from corporations, churches and individuals.

Northshore Disaster Recovery uses the funds to buy materials to rebuild homes for residents without insurance, who are on fixed incomes or impoverished, and are not eligible for assistance from other private or public relief systems.

Kimball adds that the work he directs cannot be completed without volunteer labor.

"We have rebuilt almost 400 homes," he said. "The average cost of materials for one home is $15,000. It requires about 2,500 man hours, and we use volunteer labor. This comes to about $40,000 in free labor. Volunteer teams are the most important resource we have."

Kimball estimates he will need 200 to 250 volunteers a week for the next two years. He emphasized that those who wish to help don't need any particular skills. Volunteers are trained to complete tasks such as hanging drywall or operating a saw or a nail gun.

For more information on his talk, call (630) 879-7060.

To find out about volunteering, call Northshore Disaster Recovery at (985) 781-7990.

Bach is back:

Marmion Abbey will host the "Bach and Beyond at the Abbey" concert by members of the American Guild of Organists at 7:30 p.m. July 27 in the Abbey Church of St. Augustine of Canterbury at 850 Butterfield Road in Aurora.

Admission is free. Donations will be accepted for the guild's young organists scholarship fund.

Musicians will perform seven organ works, including the Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach and the Organ Sonata No. 1 by Felix Mendelssohn.

Featured organists include Rosalie Cassiday of Aurora, Marsha Foxgrover of Batavia, April Stovall of North Aurora and Shirley Grudzien of Naperville.

Call Karl Bruhn at (630) 879-7655.