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Local help for Katrina victims was one of top 2005 stories

An outpouring of support for Hurricane Katrina victims from Mankato residents and University faculty, staff and students ranks as one of the top local stories of 2005, according to The Free Press.

2006-04-09
By Dan Linehan, Free Press staff writer [published in The Free Press, Mankato, MN, 12/29/2005]

MANKATO — When hurricanes Katrina and Rita killed more than 1,300 and made a million more homeless, Mankato responded with 15 busloads and hundreds of thousands of pounds of help.

Much of that support has ended, but more than a dozen evacuees remain in the area. Many are still receiving help, from low-cost public housing to gift certificates from strangers.

Bob Meyer, CEO of the South Central Minnesota Red Cross, said 75 evacuees — including 24 children and 44 families — came to Mankato. Meyer said they all chose to come to the area, whether because of friends, family or word of mouth.

He said the Red Cross is no longer tracking evacuees but added that the vast majority has returned to the Gulf region.

Minnesota State University has been a conduit for help, especially for the 17 students from the region, said Michael Fagin, vice president for diversity at MSU. Eight  of those students were new to the school, which has a long history of recruiting directly from New Orleans, he said.

Fagin said the school distributed donations from faculty and staff as well as from the community at large, including some religious institutions.

The help was a two-way street. In addition to the 55 Red Cross-trained volunteers sent to the Gulf, brothers John and Mike Hennek helped to organize three relief trips to Natchitoches, La.

"Wow," Meyer said, remembering the volunteers he calls heroes. "This is kind of inspiring."

He said the hurricanes were made real by the personal anguish set loose during one-onone talks with survivors.

"It's one thing to see houses floating and destruction, but when you see the toll it takes on a human person, it really hit home for us," Meyer said.

"It was really just a way to put our faith in action," Mike Hennek said. "The need was overwhelming; we just did a small part."

Hennek said the volunteers made friends and got a chance to see life from a different perspective. "I think we brought back more than we took."

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