Missouri Synod distributes $271,483 for Colorado flood relief

For Immediate Release

Contact: Vicki Biggs, 314-996-1236, 314-556-3829 (cell), @theLCMS

Grant monies will be used for house repairs, transitional housing, other expenses

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 4, 2013—Following the severe flooding that inundated parts of Colorado in September, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) is issuing two grants for area disaster-recovery efforts. Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, Estes Park, Colo., will receive a grant of $171,483, and the LCMS Rocky Mountain District will receive $100,000.

The grants will be used to repair damaged homes, pay for transitional housing for those who have been displaced due to damage to roads and houses, replace lost income, and pay for gift cards for food and clothing.

“The need for transitional housing — apartments where displaced people can live while their homes are being repaired — is an urgent issue, especially as winter weather is imminent,” said the Rev. Glenn Merritt, director of LCMS Disaster Response.

According to the Rocky Mountain District, the flood affected 17 Colorado counties, destroying some 1,882 homes and damaging more than 16,000, with total damages to all properties estimated at more than $2 billion.

So far, the Rocky Mountain District has disbursed $7,600 from its own disaster fund in grants to congregations.

“Our congregations in these affected areas are doing an excellent job of meeting the material, emotional and spiritual needs of their members, but an even larger group of non-LCMS people are affected,” said Doug Ullmann, the Rocky Mountain District executive for administration. “Those local congregations will have a great opportunity to reach those communities with mercy where an LCMS congregation presence is absent.”

At least four more LCMS congregations are in the process of applying for disaster grants.

To help with the LCMS disaster response effort, go to www.lcms.org/givenow/disaster.

About The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is a biblical, confessional, witness-oriented Christian denomination with 2.3 million members – 600,000 households – in 6,200 congregations. Through acts of witness and mercy, the church carries out its mission worldwide to make known the love of Jesus Christ. Learn more at www.lcms.org.

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