Saturday Morning from New Orleans area
Late yesterday, I received a call from a dear friend of Mercy Chefs who has committed a special Matching Challenge gift of $40,000 for Hurricane Ida Relief!
This is a great blessing because as of yesterday our GROCERY BILLS alone had already surpassed $120,000 -- the demand here has been that great. And I must order more food because yesterday we exceeded 20,000 meals and the vast majority of this area is still without power. We could serve 75,000 meals this holiday weekend (Friday through Monday).
Our challenge now is we need to MATCH this generous gift from friends across the country -- TODAY if at all possible!
+ + Every dollar donated for Ida relief will be DOUBLED
Will you help me match this challenge gift as we try to keep pace with the extraordinary demand for meals? Every dollar you donate this weekend will effectively be DOUBLED in impact until we meet the challenge....
Your gift of $35 is DOUBLED to $70 and helps feed 20 people; $105 becomes $210 in impact and feeds 60 people. Perhaps you can give more ($350 now feeds 200 people; 1,000 now feeds about 570 people).
Every gift will help us meet this Matching Challenge -- and every gift helps us feeds Ida victims this weekend with DOUBLE THE IMPACT!
This is going to be a very long and difficult weekend for the folks down here. The heat index today is expected to reach 102 degrees and many people have been without electricity for a week now, with no end in sight.
We keep getting more and more requests for help. I'm expecting we will serve more than 20,000 meals again today. Meeting this Matching Challenge will help equip our team to keep pace with the demand.
Please prayerfully consider how you can help, and thanks in advance!
Gary LeBlanc, Mercy Chefs
P.S. Fully matching this special Challenge gift today will really help us keep up with the demand for meals. Please consider making a special gift today -- doubled in impact by this challenge gift. Go here:
+ + + + +
(Original message)
The need here is overwhelming. Mercy Chefs is the main source of relief for thousands right now. We urgently need help this weekend. Please go here to sponsor meals this holiday weekend, and see below for the latest. --Gary
Yesterday, we blew past 16,000 meals. Today, we'll finish up over 20,000 meals. And the calls for help keep coming...
We've expanded our meal distribution across the region: LaRose, Mandeville, Springfield, Golden Meadow and Violet, in addition to New Orleans, Houma, Kenner and Metairie. On top of this, we are fielding a stream of requests from more communities and church partners that need help. It never ends!
Simply put, THE NEED IS EXTRAORDINARY! Based on the mobile kitchens and support vehicles we brought in, I thought we could serve 15,000 meals a day. But the need is so great, my team keeps adding more and more meals.
We just exhausted yet another tractor trailer truckload of food, and I must immediately order another. We keep hoping... praying... that more help will come from other organizations, but so far we haven't seen it.
Today through the holiday weekend, Mercy Chefs could serve 75,000 or more hot meals -- many to people who have been without power since the storm hit and have no hopes yet of power being restored. These Mercy Chefs meals are a lifeline for thousands, but to keep up with the urgent need this weekend I NEED HELP!
PLEASE PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER what you can do to help Mercy Chefs feed tens of thousands of Hurricane Ida victims -- some who went days without food. Go here to help sponsor 10, 20, 50, 100, 350, or even 1,000 meals for Hurricane Ida victims in Louisiana who desperately need our help:
If you've already helped, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your gift is at work right now helping us provide hot meals in one of the most difficult situations we've seen. The need is so critical, if you can give again, it would be a great blessing -- especially this holiday weekend when hundreds of thousands will go without power. Almost the entire New Orleans metro region is still POWERLESS. Drinking water and food are at a premium.
If you haven't yet contributed to our Hurricane Ida efforts, please do so today! Go here!
The lines are getting longer. More and more requests are pouring in. Mercy Chefs is reaching some of the hardest hit regions -- places that were still under water, and home after home was damaged by the storm.
We keep looking around for other organizations to help, but right now Mercy Chefs is the front-line relief organization for thousands!
Please help!
God bless,
Gary LeBlanc, Mercy Chefs
(Please forward this email to your friends.)
P.S. As I noted, we are BEYOND CAPACITY -- over 20,000 meals today alone. And the food bills are STAGGERING. At times, it feels as if we are alone, but I know we have FAITHFUL FRIENDS across the country who are standing with us as we help Ida victims. Thanks for your prayers and thanks in advance for your support -- especially this holiday weekend when we'll serve 75,000 or more meals. Go here:
* * * * * * *
FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO FRIENDS WHO WANT TO PROVIDE PRACTICAL RELIEF TO IDA VICTIMS.
Do you like this page?