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DULUTH--Parishioners of the Church of St. Benedict and St. Monica's
Church, as well as St. Patrick's Church in Norcross, are among
parishes helping their fellow parishioners who were victims of the
April 9 tornado.
Members of St. Benedict's newest ministry, Helping Hands, made up of
the RENEW 2000 core groups, have been calling parishioners who live in
the area where the storm hit, asking if help is needed.
Kay Schultz, a member of Helping Hands, said 20 to 50 parishioners
had trees fall on their property and four had major damage and asked
for help in cleaning up their homes. Approximately 50 to 60 St.
Benedict parishioners volunteered on Good Friday and Holy Saturday to
help those families, clearing trees and aiding in other necessary
tasks. Approximately $7,000-8,000 was donated during a special
collection on Easter Sunday for families impacted by the tornado.
Father Greg Goolsby, pastor at St. Monica's Church, said that they
were fortunate that they did not have any parishioners whose homes
were destroyed. He said that 20 or so parishioners had some type of
damage and many had fallen trees and power outages.
Father Goolsby said his homily on service on Holy Thursday focused
on ways to help parishioners whose homes had been damaged. He said
many parishioners volunteered and helped each other on Good Friday. He
also said that they will have special intentions at future daily
Masses.
At St. Patrick's Church, the home of parish religious educator Sory
Govin and her family was completely destroyed by the early morning
tornado.
Parish secretary Anna Mickle said that aside from the Govins, the
parish has heard of fewer than 10 parishioners whose homes sustained
damage.
She said many parishioners spent the Easter weekend aiding the Govin
family. The Men's Club had several volunteers helping on Saturday, and
the Women's Guild has been recruiting parishioners to make meals to
serve to parishioners whose homes were damaged.
The church at 2140 Beaver Ruin Road is also accepting financial
donations to help families and recruiting volunteers.
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