NATCHEZ &045; The final electric bills aren’t in yet, but it doesn’t take a meter reader to know that some area churches have hefty charges coming.

Ten Miss-Lou churches opened their doors at one point or another to hurricane evacuees, serving first, thinking about money later.

Rooms normally closed all week, minus a few Wednesday night hours, were used 24/7 for more than 30 days at some churches. And once the utility bills are dealt with there’s the matter of the money already spent on food, supplies and cleanup.

FEMA has said it will reimburse churches for many costs, but no local church has gotten FEMA dollars yet and some say they just plain don’t want it.

&uot;We did this because we felt like God was calling us to do this long before Katrina ever happened,&uot; Parkway Baptist Church’s Associate Pastor Jason Cole said. &uot;We have literally been overwhelmed with help from people from all over with donations of food plus finances.&uot;

Parkway, which will close as a Red Cross shelter on Thursday, has been open over six weeks and has been home for different lengths of time to 750 people.

&uot;God never calls you to do something that he doesn’t take care of you to do,&uot; Cole said. &uot;That’s been our philosophy. We have no plans to take FEMA money.&uot;

The church, one of the largest shelters in the area, has received money donations from as far away as South Dakota and Oregon. All donations went directly into a shelter account, and when purchases had to be made for evacuees, the money came from there, Cole said.

The donations were overwhelming for Vidalia’s First Baptist Church too, the Rev. Dan Glenn said.

&uot;We don’t need any money,&uot; the pastor said. &uot;Our church has spent very, very little.&uot;

FBC’s donations came from the community and other states as well, and even from resident evacuees who left behind checks when they left the shelter.

Ferriday First Baptist pastor the Rev. Wayne Gray said he’s filled out the paperwork to receive FEMA money, but he isn’t going to press the issue if it never comes.

Since his church, like others, served as a first responder until the Red Cross arrived, Gray said some church funds were spent. And countless more have gone into mileage to other hard-hit areas to provide assistance. He estimated that they have received about $12,000 in donations, most of which have gone to establish a disaster relief team that travels to other areas.

If the FEMA money does come, Gray said most of it will probably be used for the relief team efforts.

Gray said he understood the concerns about federal money going to churches and breaking separation of church and state laws but thought the reimbursement was appropriate.

&uot;I don’t think there’s any reason why we couldn’t work together,&uot; he said. &uot;Without the churches, the work would be unbelievably far behind.

&uot;I doesn’t matter to me whether they reimburse or not. Yes, it’s needed; yes they probably ought to. Whether they do it or not is irrelevant.&uot;

Community Chapel Church of God in Natchez housed 352 people over 31 days and hasn’t heard from FEMA yet, Associate Pastor Bo Swilley said.

&uot;We had 30 tons of air running 24/7,&uot; Swilley said. &uot;Normally we run five tons in the office and more only on Wednesdays and Sundays.&uot;

Swilley and staff had just started calculations, but he estimated the church was running about $7,000 above normal costs.

At New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Natchez, security personnel were hired and paid for their time and an extra daycare worker was hired.

&uot;We are interested in FEMA money,&uot; shelter manager Pauline Rodgers said. &uot;We feel like it’s the mission, what we are doing, but if we can get some help, we’ll take it.&uot;