[StBernard] Gutting of Homes Continues

[Westley Annis]

Brian Kremer of the Evangelical Free Church in Camarillo, Calif., and Reed
Millett of Boone, N.C., representing the Samaritans's Purse relief
organization, say their groups are in St. Bernard Parish volunteering to
remove storm-damaged debris from people's homes because they are called to
serve to show the love of Christ.

"It's satisfying helping others,'' said Millet, whose national group is
headed by Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham. Her said about 80 people
affiliated with Samaritan's Purse are in St. Bernard, Gretna, and the
Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Kremer said his group has 13 volunteers from California.

Along with several volunteers from Habitat for Humanity who arrived last
week, the groups are forming the first wave of volunteers who on Wednesday
kicked off a free program offered by St. Bernard Parish government to help
residents remove storm damaged debris from their homes and get more people
back living in the parish.

More than 2,500 people have registered for the free debris removal, open to
all St. Bernard residents, who can sign up for the program on the
second-floor of the Parish Government Building, 8201 West Judge Perez Drive
or by going to the parish government website at www.sbpg.net
.
The program is starting off small to iron out the kinks but eventually, as
many as 2,000 volunteers may arrive over a period of weeks to help St.
Bernard residents, according to David Dysart, hired to heads the hurricane
recovery effort for parish government.

"This may be the largest volunteer residential debris removal program ever
in America,'' said Dysart, who encourages all citizens to take advantage of
the offer. Federal officials are paying to feed and house volunteers.

Dysart said the program got off to a good start on Wednesday, with
voluntters working on two homes on Mehle Avenue in Arabi. Home-owners will
be notified in advance of when volunteers will come to their hoses so they
can be there to help salvage items and tahnk the workers for what they are
doing, Dysart said.

"I keep telling them thank you,'' said Bob Wedepohl, a St. Bernard Parish
firefighter who was one of the people who had their homes cleaned of debris
on Wednesday.

St. Bernard Parish Council member Craig Taffaro Jr. also as announced
another way for residents to get their homes quickly cleaned of debris - a
volunteer program starting this Saturday, Jan. 21, at 8 a.m. behind the
parish government building, in which anyone who shows up with boots and
ready towork can be part of a lottery in which the winner gets their home
gutted that day by everyone who attends. If you don't win the first time
your name stays in the hat and can be chosen in the next round, Taffaro
said. But the ones who don't win have to agree to go help gut the winner's
home in order to keep having a cance at getting their home gutted.

The first two volunteers to arrive, Mike Protevi, 42, a graphics designer
from Philadelphia, and Madison Reid, 30, who works in special effects in
Seattle, said what they have seen of the storm damage is eye-opening,
surpassing what they expected, and that they volunteered to help.

Martin Garza of California, one of the volunteers from the Evangelical Free
Church, said the church also raised some $15,000 to send volunteers. "The
need is here'' to do the work, Garza, explaining why he wanted to be a part
of it.