NATCHEZ &045; For the two remaining non-Red Cross shelters in the Miss-Lou, community has been the key word.

First Baptist Church of Vidalia and Pilgrim Baptist Church of Natchez have provided shelter up to this point based largely on donations of time and money from church and community members.

First Baptist doesn’t receive Red Cross meals or supplies but has fed up to 100 people. Numbers at the shelter now are around 35.

&uot;Our church has been wonderful,&uot; pastor Dan Glenn said. &uot;But it hasn’t all been our church. Some members, some that are not members, have helped. Some other churches have come in and said, ‘we’ll be responsible for a full day.’&uot;

Community members and local businesses have provided enough food and money for breakfast, lunch and dinner since the night before Katrina hit.

Volunteers have worked around the clock. The church has pulled mainly from a group of about 105 people who showed up for the very first meeting about volunteering, Glenn said.

&uot;It’s unbelievable,&uot; he said. &uot;On the night that people started coming in, as people would walk in someone with an air mattress would walk in behind them.

&uot;As soon as there was a need there, it was met.&uot;

Glenn said the church now has too much clothing, personnel care items and bedding.

The shelter is scheduled to close Friday after breakfast. All of the remaining residents have found a place to go, Glenn said.

Some have gone back home, others to family in other parts of the country and some to permanent or temporary housing in the parish or elsewhere.

But for Glenn and his church, the hurricane provided an opportunity to work.

&uot;It was God’s work,&uot; Glenn said. &uot;It’s the way the body of Christ is supposed to work.&uot;

Pilgrim Baptist Church opened its doors and floors to be a shelter on Sept. 5, but it’s been more than just that one church that’s kept the shelter running, Pastor Melvin White said.

&uot;It’s all churches of the community that came together working in conjunction with this church,&uot; White said. &uot;And it’s been going tremendously well.&uot;

Around 30 residents at the church do receive Red Cross-provided meals and some supplies, but the staffing has been coordinated by the church.

Pilgrim Baptist is a part of the Community Involvement Committee, a group that started when Katrina hit. The committee’s aim was to provide shelter and meet the needs of evacuees, White said. New Hope Missionary Baptist Church is a part of the organization and is also a shelter. New Hope has become a Red Cross shelter since it opened. Pilgrim Baptist is in the process of becoming a Red Cross shelter.

&uot;The Red Cross has been very helpful in letting us receive items from them,&uot; White said. &uot;The Red Cross has been right there with us.&uot;

But donations from community members have been a major part of the shelter, too, White said.

No Red Cross personnel are currently working at the church’s shelter.

Angela James is coordinating volunteer schedules. She can be contacted at 601-442-0813 or 601-392-1015.