Dolly's Damage

The Presbyterian churches in the Valley sustained some damage but nothing too devastating. There were leaky roofs, wet carpet, trees down, and Treasure Hills lost 1/3 of its Fellowship Hall roof and First Edinburg had damage to its steeple and foyer.

Ninfa Ochoa-Krueger, who is head of BARCA which works with the colonias in the Valley, shares the following:

"Certain parts of the Valley were really hit by both wind & rain, as opposed to Beulah which was hit by wind and then later came the flooding. The colonias where we work did fairly well so far as flooding, except for Palm Lake and Eljay. Rosalinda will have to visit Eljay to determine why they flooded but Palm Lake is usually affected by the farmland around them. This time even the bridge which crosses from colonia Seminary to their area was closed off. Fortunately the road which they had fought so hard to get closer to their area provided a way out.

"I don't know at this point what exactly could be done for the residents in Palm Lake but I know the need will be great for school clothing, shoes, etc. for kids in early August. Edinburg First Presbyterian has joined with BARCA in our colonia outreach ministry project. Perhaps one thing that would be of help would be if some church could provide gift certificates to Wal Mart or Payless and First Presbyterian could deliver them to one or two colonias according to the census which the colonia leaders keep. I would suspect the children need school shoes anyway but funds are going to be extremely limited for those parents who have worked or were expecting to work in the fields. I believe the Latter Day Saints have committed to distributing school supplies. "

Let us keep the Valley in our prayers, especially its poor and vulnerable.

To contact Ninfa if you want to help, ninfaokru@aol.com