Rock group gives $75,000
To PC( USA) for Katrina relief

The Hurricane Katrina relief effort of the PC(USA) received a big boost August 8 thanks to a $75,000 contribution rock'n'roll style.

The announcement came during an afternoon news conference where representatives of the rock band 3 Doors Down presented Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) with the money, which will go for purchasing construction materials to rebuild homes along the Gulf Coast.

The news conference was held at a volunteer village in Gautier, MS, one of six such sites in Mississippi and Louisiana operated by PDA. Each village houses work teams from churches across the country helping with the response.

The rock band 3 Doors Down

Band spokesman Mark Smith said 3 Doors Down was impressed with the effectiveness and efficiency of PDA's Gautier village, which is located in southeast Mississippi near the Alabama border. He said the contribution was made through The Better Life Foundation, the band's charitable agency named after its first CD.

The band, whose members are from nearby Escatawpa, MS, were early supporters of disaster relief efforts following last fall's Gulf Coast hurricanes and continues to raise money for the cause through sales of its music and special concert appearances.

"For me the gift from 3 Doors Down affirms the visible presence that Presbyterians have along the Gulf and for local people they are becoming the responder of choice," said Susan Ryan, PDA's coordinator. "If local people are saying that this is a place they want to put their money, then it validates the kind of wonderful work and ministry that is happening in the Gulf."

The widespread destruction left by Katrina and other hurricanes last year led to the PC(USA)'s biggest-ever domestic relief effort. The band's $75,000 adds to a record setting $23 million in contributions raised by PDA in response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.