The congregation at the Echo Christian Fellowship Church in Lake Orion, like much of the nation, was wondering what it could do to help after seeing pictures of the horrible devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast.
Pastor Kevin Carpenter said the inspiration for their ‘Operation Cans for Katrina? project came when he and his wife Melissa were brainstorming for ideas that could involve their four children.
The result: Echo Christian Fellowship would sponsor a returnable can and bottle drive, with the Kroger store on Lapeer Road in Lake Orion already starting a collection in its recycling area.
Carpenter said the church is waiting for a response from the Meijer Corporation, and has already collected $200 in less than a week’s time of placing a receptacle at the Kroger store.
‘It was my family, to begin with,? explained Carpenter, an Oxford resident. ‘My wife wanted to do a can drive (on Sept. 2). We have four children, (daughter Taylor, 13, daughter Logan, 11, son Mitchell, 9, and son Grant, 7) and we wanted a way for them to help.?
Carpenter then got in touch with a friend of his, Pastor Louis Bartett of the Pointe Assembly of God Church in Downsville, Louisiana.
‘He began to share with me what they were up against, and what a nightmare it really is,? Carpenter said.
‘Their district is feeding about 450 people…they are looking at a minimum of 12 months of assisting some of these people,? he said.
Echo Christian Fellowship, located on Clarkston Road near Friendship Park, has about 40 members in its congregation.
The church members decided they wanted to sponsor a receptacle for collecting cans, and donate the proceeds to the hurricane victims being sheltered in Downsville and other areas in the Pointe Assembly of God’s district.
‘Kroger said yes immediately,? said Carpenter. ‘We are checking the receptacle every day, and one day there was $46 worth of cans there.?
Downsville is located in Central Louisiana, and the church there is helping people who were evacuated from New Orleans.
Pastor Bartett said Pointe Assembly is feeding and housing a small number of people who fled the New Orleans area, but that their district is feeding over 400 people three meals a day.
‘We’re sending money to them weekly,? said Carpenter. ‘Directly to them, so there’s no overhead.?
In addition, Carpenter said he gets weekly reports from Bartett on how the people down there are doing, and if there is something specific they need at that time.
‘We recently spoke to the owner of the True Value Hardware stores in Lake Orion and Oxford, he’s agreed to let us put canisters at those stores to collect Coins for Katrina,? said Carpenter. ‘We’re also talking to a couple of school PTOs, and there is a class at Clear Lake Elementary School (in Oxford) that will be collecting cans for us.?
Carpenter said he was planning to talk to Lake Orion Schools about doing the same thing.
‘We’ll be collecting cans at Kroger indefinitely,? he said. ‘They’ve been very supportive. They weren’t hesitant at all.?
Carpenter said if Operation Cans for Katrina expands to other area stores as the church hopes it will, more volunteers will be needed.
‘Right now, we only have one container, and when that fills if there’s no one there to check on it, people can’t put anymore (cans) in,? he said.
Carpenter said the first weekend of the project, he and his family walked into Kroger with six carts full of cans.
‘Everyone was asking us what it was for,? he said.
For more information about Cans for Katrina, contact Echo Christian Fellowship Church at 693-8179.
For more information about Pointe Assembly of God Church in Louisiana, visit www.pointag.org, and for more information about their district’s hurricane relief efforts, visit www.aaog.org/hurricane/hurricane/htm.