Flood of funds for Texas parish

WAYNE  Five months later, large portions of Texas and Louisiana continue to rebuild after Hurricane Harvey’s mighty winds and massive flooding on Aug. 26 caused more than $125 million of damage and killed 68 people. News of the untold suffering there touched the compassionate hearts of youth ministry members and Confirmation students at Our Lady of Consolation (OLC) Parish here and inspired them to collect a deluge of donations for the Shrine of the True Cross in Dickinson, Texas. It is part of their larger ongoing, yearlong commitment to give financial help and encouragement for the recovery of the beleaguered parish, located near Houston.

The young people of OLC have raised $4,000 so far for the Shrine of the True Cross which sustained catastrophic losses after Hurricane Harvey. The category 4 storm submerged the parish grounds and surrounding towns under 50 inches of water and severely damaged its church, Catholic school and offices. Already OLC purchased a curriculum program for the Shrine’s Confirmation program which was destroyed in floodwater, said Laura Haftek, director of OLC’s youth ministry, who devised the fund-raising campaign.

OLC’s 75 Confirmation students recently wrote individual letters of prayer and support to the Shrine’s Confirmation candidates. They shared sentiments, such as, “I am heartbroken to hear about the devastation that you, your family, and your Parish community went through with Hurricane Harvey,” “I can’t imagine losing the material things that I treasure, especially things like photos and things that can never be replaced” and “Even though we are far away, I just wanted you to know that our entire parish is praying for you,” Haftek said.

“OLC wanted to raise awareness of the first places in Texas and Louisiana that the hurricane hit — places that are still trying to rebuild. We don’t want the people there to be forgotten,” Haftek said. Later, Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida on Sept. 10 and Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 19, causing significant flooding and damage. “Teens tend to be caught up in their own little world and seldom look beyond to see other’s in need. We do not want them to take their blessings for granted, rather use them to help others. We want our kids to feel that they are helping people outside their little world of Wayne, N.J.,” she said.

Since September, Haftek has asked the young people of the OLC for a $3 donation to hurricane relief each time they attend a youth group activity or Confirmation class. In January, the youth ministry held a volleyball and whiffle ball benefit, charging people $12 each to play. This month, it is holding a Hershey bar sale, after Masses, followed by a series of other fund-raisers in coming months, including a flag football and dodge ball benefit, car washes and other “sports-type” events, Haftek said.

“In my letter, I wanted to send good vibes. I wanted to tell the people [of the Shrine of the True Cross] to hold out hope and that good things will happen,” said Ricky Wallert, a second-year Confirmation candidate at OLC, a youth group member and a peer minister. “I don’t mind constantly giving money. It feels good to know that it’s going to a good cause.”

In recent months, Haftek has been in contact with Robin North, the Shrine’s coordinator of Confirmation and adolescent religious education, who has been alerting OLC of their immediate needs, including the loss of their Confirmation materials.

There in Dickenson, the local Knights of Columbus provided meals for those in need and assisted with cleanup. The Shrine holds Masses in the Knights’ hall. The parish office was relocated to space in a parishioner’s business. A neighboring parish, St. Mary’s in Texas City, welcomed the Shrine's Catholic school, and religious education, and Confirmation programs to use its school building, Haftek said.

The hurricane also flooded more than 300,000 structures, caused about 336,000 customers to lose power and forced about 40,000 to stay in shelters in Texas and Louisiana, according to previous news reports.

“I cannot thank you enough for all of your financial and spiritual support. What a blessing you and your parish have been,” North wrote to Haftek, enclosing a photo of the Shrine’s Confirmation students expressing their thanks.

In addition to the efforts of OLC’s youth ministry and Confirmation programs, the parish’s religious education program conducted the large collection of school supplies for a public high school and elementary school in Houston, said Debbie Dericks, OLC’s director of religious education.

OLC’s outreach to the devastated areas of Texas and Louisiana started on the weekend of Sept. 16-17, 2017, when the Passaic County parish joined the rest of the faith communities in the Diocese for a collection for Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma recovery efforts. The Diocese forwarded monies to Catholic Charities USA. At OLC, Haftek assembled a slide show of the devastation, set to the poignant song, “Calling All Angels” by Train, which was played after Masses. Youth ministry members stood outside in the sun, holding umbrellas to dramatize the hurricanes’ heavy rains, while collecting donations. The video “touched people’s hearts” and inspired OLC’s young people to do more for hurricane victims, Haftek said.

Haftek asked Michele DeSantis, a parishioner, to research the needs of parishes that suffered the most significant losses in the hurricanes so that OLC could choose a parish to “adopt.” The name of one of the worst hit parishes surfaced repeatedly during her research: The Shrine of the True Cross, a parish of about 2,500 families, in Dickinson, southwest of Houston, Haftek said.

“The Shrine of the True Cross was wiped out. It’s not a wealthy parish. It was going to renovate the church [before Harvey], so it was bad timing. “Now, the parish is caught up in the question of who will pay for the repairs — the Federal Emergency Management Agency, insurance or the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston?” said Haftek, who led youth ministry members on cleanup efforts in and around Wayne in 2012 in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Now, OLC’s youth ministry hopes to pay for some rebuilding supplies through its many upcoming fundraising events, Haftek said.

Father Michael Lombardo, OLC’s pastor, praised Haftek’s efforts in leading Harvey hurricane relief efforts with the young people of the parish.

“She has insight to the immediate needs in a disaster — not weeks or months later, but now — and has the ability to marshal people to help other people in distress,” said Father Lombardo, who noted that OLC’s youth ministry has attracted a record number of young people in the history of the parish.