Georgia 's Faith-Based Community Partners with State, Relief Agencies to Support Hurricane Katrina Evacuees

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue and members of Georgia 's faith community announced today a statewide collaborative effort to provide long-term relief for displaced evacuees from Louisiana , Mississippi and Alabama .

“ Georgia 's faith community will work with our state government and traditional relief agencies to meet the many long-term needs of the Hurricane Katrina evacuees that are arriving in Georgia each day,” said Governor Sonny Perdue.  “This is a desperate hour for tens of thousands of our neighbors in Alabama , Mississippi and Louisiana .  It calls for an extraordinary response.”

Governor Perdue asked faith-based organizations to designate a point-of-contact for the disaster relief effort and to provide their contact information to the state of Georgia by logging onto www.connections.org .  The Department of Community Affairs (DCA), with the assistance of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, will coordinate with each point-of-contact to match offers of resources and volunteers with relief efforts that are currently underway.

“Faith-based partners will help us channel goodwill to where it can benefit the most.  I encourage every local congregation to designate your point-of-contact and join this effort,” said Governor Perdue.