Update on Illinois Tornadoes from LCC

Click Here to Donate to the LCC Disaster Relief Fund Click Here to Donate to the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Travel Fund Update on Special Appeal from Last Friday - Tornadoes in Northern Illinois First, I want to thank all of you who have given of time and finances, plus those who came out to help. I wanted to give everyone an update as to where things are and what God has all been doing since the tornadoes that hit Fairdale, Rochelle, Kirkland, and surrounding areas. How do I describe it? Devastation - and a miracle more people were not injured or killed. The tornadoes hit around 7 pm on Thursday night. Joel Moritz and I were out there immediately that night to meet with victims in Kirkland. We met up with Pastor Jeremy Heilman from Trinity, Genoa. On Friday, LCC staff member Roger Pollock, Rev. Greg Hoffmann from St. Paul Rochelle, and I went to assess more of the area and damage. St Paul agreed to be a base of operation for LCC's Disaster Response teams and in deploying out our LCC Comfort Dogs. Saturday - we deployed over 275 volunteers plus 14 LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs and handlers to help members of St Paul who lost their homes. We then went to assist others in their communities. Sunday - we met for worship at St Paul, then ate and deployed 150 volunteers to Rochelle, Kirkland, and Fairdale. Our LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs (13 plus handlers) also went out to be with families in Fairdale who lost everything. LCC provided financial assistance through St Paul Rochelle and First Lutheran in Kirkland to families who suffered loss. The work continues on - tomorrow we will be out with Comfort Dogs in various Red Cross locations (they called us and asked us to come in). We will continue to deploy work crews as requests come in. We will be here for some time - and will until it is all finished. It's what Christians do! There are so many touching stories on how God works in the midst of disaster - we will be sharing these in our newsletter on Wednesday. Click here for more pictures of God working in people's lives. Thank you for your prayers and support as we continue to provide the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who suffer and are in need. You can contribute by: Donating online: LCC Disaster Relief Fund  Donating by mail (please put "Disaster Relief" in the memo line): Lutheran Church Charities 333 West Lake Street Addison, IL 60101 Donate by phone: (866) 455-6466 Care Carding - Send a gift card and a message to someone in need - click here for more information  Tim Hetzner and the Disaster Response Staff