Local relief efforts assist flood victims
Devastating, record-setting floods across the Midwest have prompted countless requests for aid from private sources. Already, some local churches and charities have answered the call.
Addison-based Lutheran Church Charities is soliciting volunteers to travel to Indiana, Ohio and Iowa.
The group boasts a cadre of experienced flood volunteers, having marshaled manpower from 24 states to help in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Indeed, one of the group's Iowa-based disaster relief staffers had to return from doing Katrina relief work to coordinate help in his own state. A semitrailer filled with the group's cleaning supplies is en route from the Gulf Coast as well.
The Lutheran charity's volunteers will be armed with gallons of bleach and window cleaner and as many scrub buckets, brushes, sponges and rubber gloves as they can collect between now and then.
"We'll come in after the water comes down," said Tim Hetzner, president of Lutheran Church Charities. "We'll be mucking, cleaning walls, cleaning the mold out."
One of the area's largest charity garage sales also will benefit flood victims this year.
The international product safety company Underwriters Laboratories has agreed to buy clothing and household goods from the annual Annie's Attic Garage Sale and then donate them to flood victims in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
As in previous years, the money from the sale will benefit local families in need, thereby doubling the impact of the sale.
At the end of the sale, any remaining items will be donated to the flood victims.
The sale, which runs Thursday through Saturday at St. Anne Church in Barrington, is an annual community event.
"We have 800 volunteers working to help, and they're very driven," sale co-chairman Kate Hauk said. "And it's made it that much more important now that we can extend the reach of our efforts."
Officials from many river communities have praised volunteers who stacked sandbags and created makeshift walls.
The mayor of tiny Hamburg, an Illinois village along the Mississippi River, said his town likely would be under water if not for volunteers who traveled from as far away as Chicago.
But flood veterans know the hard work is just beginning.
"The cleanup will be going on all summer," Hetzner said.
• Daily Herald news services contributed to this report.
How you can help
• The American Red Cross has supplied emergency food, clean water, shelter and cleanup kits to flooded areas. You can specify where you want your money to go when you go to www.redcross.org or call (800) HELP-NOW.
• The Salvation Army has deployed emergency service vehicles to flood-affected communities across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin. People who want to help can visit www.salvationarmyusa.org or call (800) SAL-ARMY. A $100 donation will feed a family of four for two days, provide two cases of drinking water and one household cleanup kit containing brooms, mops, buckets and cleaning supplies.
• In addition to volunteers, Lutheran Church Charities is soliciting donations of scrub brushes, buckets and other cleaning supplies. Go to lcc.lutheranchurchcharities.org/app/ or call (866) 455-6466.
• The Annie's Attic Sale will be held Thursday through Saturday at St. Anne Church in downtown Barrington. For directions and more information, call Project Hope at 847-381-5721 or visit www.anniesatticinfo.org.