Current Action Call: 

LIDRN's strength depends entirely upon its membership.  Please tell other faith-based groups and aid agencies about LIDRN.  Ask them to consider membership.  Send a contact name and we'll follow up by phone or email.  Vice-Chair Emilia Bellone can be reached at 337-989-0933 and at ejbellone@cox.net

4th Annual Day of Prayer For Protection From Hurricanes

June 1st, 2009

We are thankful our prayers have been heard and continue to be answered!

Click here for the 2009 flyer

Please remember to pray throughout the Hurricane Season!

Click here for a prayer from the late Rev. Schexnayder (2nd Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette)

May 31, 2009

Photograph shows the seating area & the offerings that were made that day - offerings of honey, rice, milk and flowers. 

There was a Buddhist prayer ceremony on  Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 6:00 pm. Prayers and offerings were made asking for a mild hurricane season that will affect few people and little property, wherever a hurricane might strike   The event took place at the end of the steamboat landing adjacent to the U.S.S. Kidd downtown.  Following the recitation of several  Buddhist prayers, offerings were cast into the Mississippi River, which connected the offerings to the Gulf of Mexico, source of our hurricanes.  People who chanced upon the ceremony were invited to join in casting offerings into the river, in addition to the participants from Katog Choling Tibetan Cultural Center.

There was an Interfaith gathering in Lafayette for prayers for protection from hurricanes, held at 6 p.m. at a boat dock on the Vermilion River. 

Looking back:  Prayer services were held around the State last year, (on June 1st, 2008).  Below is a picture from one of the Baton Rouge area services:

Click here for 2009 Proclamation from Governor Bobby Jindal

Left:  Participants in a Tibetan Buddhist prayer ceremony  prepare to throw symbolic offerings of flowers, rice, milk and honey into the Mississippi River on June 1, 2008.  The ceremony included numerous prayers for protection from hurricanes.

The LIDRN Annual Membership Meeting was held on May 8th, 2009, from 9:30 am to 3pm, in Baton Rouge with about 35 persons in attendance.

We will post updates from the meeting, as well as some photos, soon.

Thanks to all who made this a successful gathering!

After the Hurricanes

Neighbor helping Neighbor

LIDRN continues to coordinate with area faith communities as we look at the long term recovery needs of the affected areas in Louisiana.   Much of the work is neighbor helping neighbor, with many unsung heroes.  Please feel free to contact us to add to the below list of helpful contact information. 

HELPFUL WEB-SITES / PHONE NUMBERS:

http://emergency.louisiana.gov/       Includes updates on water systems under boil advisory; and POD's (points of distribution) centers for tarps, ice, water, and MRE's; list of open gas stations; and more.   State recorded hotline:  1-866-288-2484

Office of Emergency Preparedness:  http://brgov.com/emergency/

  includes info. on shelters, feeding sites, and distribution centers for

  water and MRE's.

Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness:  http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/

FEMA:  1-800-621-FEMA  or  http://www.fema.gov/    Includes info. on the possibility of rental payments for temporary housing for those whose homes are unlivable, or reimbursements for temporary hotel expenses , as well as other aid programs for those in federally declared disaster affected areas.

American Red Cross:  http://www.redcross.org/  1-800-RedCross

DOTD reminds citizens of 511 Traveler Information System
As citizens return to their homes in Louisiana, the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) reminds residents that travelers can access up-to-date information about weather-related road conditions, construction activities and other critical incidents by dialing 511 from their telephone.

list to be updated as more information is received