Hurricane Wilma

As Hurricane Wilma, the strongest hurricane in recorded history, churns in the Caribbean, Pearlington and the rest of the Gulf Coast braces for the possibility of another tremendous hit. Packing winds of almost 300 kms. per hour, this Category Five storm is wreaking destruction everywhere it turns. Regardless, Team Pearlington is committed to our journey to the people of southwestern Mississippi and is readying to leave Canada next Friday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) currently has funds to purchase 300,000 trailers and mobile homes for people displaced by Katrina. To date, 45 days after Katrina struck, only 7308 (2.4%) of them have been deployed. Meanwhile, FEMA is paying $11 million PER DAY to house refugees in 192,424 hotel rooms across the south. Additionally, they have paid Carnival Cruise Lines hundreds of millions of dollars to park three cruise ships off the coast in the Gulf to serve as floating shelters. To date, they remain virtually unoccupied. In Pearlington, only two trailers have appeared. They are completely empty - with not so much as a fork or a plate inside - while the entire town sleeps on the ground in tents or under tarps.

The need for support, counselling, friendship and play therapy for the traumatized children of this devastated community has never been greater. Dream School International is deeply concerned about the long-term effects of this trauma on the residents affected by this natural disaster and intends to do what we can to alleviate their suffering and to let them know that Canada cares.

Join us in supporting this journey of hope. Make a donation or sponsor a Hope Chest. Send your prayers to the resilient people of Pearlington and pray that Wilma passes them by.

Dream School will be there and we hope you will join us in spirit as we extend a hand up to our neighbours and friends to the south.