April 24, 2006

Katrina benefit, more trips planned

By Kristen Miller
Staff Writer

The Minnesota Katrina Relief Effort will be hosting a benefit concert to share their stories and testimonies from the recent trips to Mississippi.

Volunteers and public are welcome to the Performing Arts Center, Sunday May 7 at 6 p.m. for an evening of live music, personal testimonies, slides shows, and silent auction.

“I encourage everyone to come and see how this experience has changed our lives,” said coordinator Al Nagel.

A guest speaker from Bay St. Louis, Miss., Chris Favre will be attending and recording his live internet T.V. program, Experience the Rock.

Nagel hopes this will give an essence of being at the camp and getting a better idea of what he and the other volunteers experienced while there, he stated.

“It’s a celebration of what’s happened and what is yet to come and to express thanks to everyone who has been involved,” said Nagel.

The event will include live music from Carpenter’s Tools along with a slide show with pictures from the past trips.

“After eight months, this might seem like old news and that it should be cleaned up by now,” Nagel said.

But this is a continuous effort, “You can’t understand until you’ve been there, how massive this is and how it’s ripped people’s lives apart,” he explained.

“With 866,000 people displaced, we shouldn’t be surprised the job isn’t cleaned up,” Nagel continued.

A silent auction will be held after the program in the lobby of the PAC. All proceeds will go towards building supplies used by the volunteers in the upcoming trips.

After an “overwhelming response” to the volunteer trips, there will be one to two trips planned each month through December and possibly through the next year.

The first trip of the next phase left Saturday, April 22 and will return Sunday, April 30 and the second trip will be Saturday, May 20 and return Sunday, May 28.

Trips are $250 for expenses excluding travel meals. For more information check out the web site, www.mnkatrinarelief.com or to sign up, call Amanda at Holt Tour and Charter (320) 286-5315.

Future relief trips

June: Departs June 17 and returns June 25

July: Departs July 1 and returns July 9, Departs July 15 and returns July 23

August: Departs Aug. 5 and returns Aug. 13

September: Departs Sept. 9 and returns Sept. 17

October: Departs Oct. 14 and returns Oct. 22

November: Departs Nov. 4 and returns 12

December: Departs Dec. 9 and returns Dec. 17, Departs Dec. 23 and returns Jan. 1