“The best thing about this gift was that it was from children to children!” said National Ministries’ Volunteers In Mission coordinator, Jacci White, about the enormous gift she found in her office in the new year.

What awaited her return from the holidays were nine big boxes, each filled with back packs of school supplies for children who lost so much during hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These arrived from students at Panorama Baptist School in Arleta, Calif., who wanted to help children who survived the worst hurricane season on record along the Gulf Coast.

Students filled about 80 back packs with supplies, such as notebook and graph paper, pencils, erasers, crayons, glue and scissors. They also raised some funds to purchase supplies by having bake sales.

“This was more than simply supplying school kits,” said White. “The children included wonderful personal notes. And although we don’t typically handle kit donations such as these, we were eager to provide the link for students in California to connect with those they wanted to reach,” White explained.

White located a church that could use the kits, New Sunlight Baptist Church in Lake Charles, La., which had been on the route of an advance team sent from the American Baptist Churches of Nebraska soon after Hurricane Katrina. That three-member team traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi to discover how other regions might help their American Baptist family in hurricane-stricken areas (Mission in America, Nov/Dec 2005).

When the advance team arrived, New Sunlight was a refuge and relief center for many people who fled New Orleans. A few families were still leaving the church for placement in temporary housing when Hurricane Rita made a direct hit on Lake Charles. Within days, church members who had been helping others were now themselves facing devastating losses.

Close to 90 volunteers are able to serve each year because America for Christ gifts support the work of National Ministries' Volunteers In Mission.