Disaster Relief in Escatawpa, Mississippi (Apr 6-12, 2008)

We are in the process of gathering volunteers to travel to Escatawpa, MS on April 6-12th. The purpose of this trip is to build a house for a family with parents and three teenagers who are currently living in two FEMA trailers. The Evans family have constructed the exterior of the house and now need help with the insulation and sheetrock. The cost of the sheetrock alone will be over $1,500. and Leavener would like to help them finish their home. We will be dealing with over 200 sheets of drywall. We could use some strong backs!

Here is the original e-mail we received from our mission friends who we work with in Mississippi.
"Hi Rusty, Here is a brief summary of the Evans family. Gary and Cindy Evans have three teenagers 2 girls and 1 boy. The roof of thier mobile home blew off during Katrina and water ruined the inside. They lived in tents for a month after the storm, and all 5 lived in one FEMA trailer for 9 months and they received another one they use as bedrooms for the children. They had no insurance, so what money they could get from the federal goverment went toward building a house. They did not want another mobile home after what happened to the other one. I really don't blame them. They are not asking for a hand out... They're asking for a helping hand. I hope you can help these guys. I prayed for a family for you and I really believe this is the one God has put in our path to unite and help. They have been working as handy workers sense Katrina so their finances are very limited. They have done the work on their own with little help. They are a hard working couple trying hard to raise thier children and put their lives back together, and hoping to get them all back under one roof. My heart goes out for this family, we are going to try and help them all we can on this end also. I will attach pic of the family with the exception of one of the girls. The house they are building is really going to be nice. The outside is almost finished, but they don't have the funds to do anything on the inside. They can't afford to take out a loan. It took a lot out of this couple to ask for help. If you need anything else let me know In Christ Claudia"

We will be departing on Sunday, Apr 6th at 7:00 AM and carpooling to Mississippi. We should arrive in Mississippi at approximately 10 PM. We will be housed by a church with shower facilities. We will do disaster relief on Monday though Thursday. On Friday, we will load up and head 2 hours east for the day and hang out on the white sandy beaches of Destin, FL. Friday Night we will drive north into Alabama and stay overnight at a hotel. We will return to Indy on Saturday, April 12th. We will be staying at a church each night and most meals will be provided. The cost of the trip will be $250/person which includes transportation, most meals while in Mississippi and the hotel on the return trip. Do not let money be the reason to not go... we will work with you on this.

If you are interested in participating with this trip, please contact me at Rusty@Leavener.com.

Rusty