April 4, 2005

CHICAGO – Lutheran Disaster Response has provided $25,000 to meet the needs of people in the Red Lake community, where a student killed five other students, a teacher and school security guard, and wounded several others at Red Lake High School, Red Lake, Minn., before killing himself on March 21. Other victims included the student's grandfather and the grandfather's woman friend.

Funds were sent to "our disaster response partner" Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota, St. Paul, which is extending professional grief and trauma counseling services in Red Lake, said Heather L. Feltman, director for Lutheran Disaster Response – a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota is coordinating disaster response efforts, she said.

Feltman said the grant will provide financial assistance to people experiencing loss of income from the impact of the tragedy. Funds will help "cover the cost of transportation, child care and additional medical expenses, for example. The grant will also support the recovery and healing process for survivors, care givers and others impacted in the Red Lake community, and it will support programs that address anxiety being experienced by the community and provide anti-racism and crisis-preparedness training for congregations and schools."

According to Marilyn M. Sorenson, director for American Indian and Alaska Native ministries, ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries, the community of Red Lake "is still in a state of anger, shock and disbelief. And, among those feelings, there remains a sense of hospitality."

On March 28 at First Lutheran Church, Bemidji, Minn., Sorenson met with members of the Red Lake community, local Lutheran pastors and local ecumenical church leaders, disaster response personnel and others to discuss the needs of people. "The best advice right now is to listen to people in the community," she said, adding that "being present with people is so important."

ELCA News