2011 CareFest Recap

by Pastor Larry Orth, CareFest Coordinator 

CareFest 2011...becoming His masterpiece!

On a brisk February Sunday evening, a group of Zumbro Valley community leaders and residents gathered to brainstorm possible solutions to jumpstart their rebuilding process.  Five months earlier, the flood of the century had devastated their community; government resources were scarce and buyouts were uncertain.  The sea of volunteers that had come to their immediate aid had all but dried up and hope had faded.  Many families had lost everything and dozens remained homeless.

That evening, the Lord began to move among His people.  CareFest leaders sensed God’s call to get involved and, within a month, a two-phased event was planned.  According to Lutheran Social Services relief coordinator Craig Richardt, new life was injected into the whole relief process.  “Before CareFest showed up, volunteer and financial support had really diminished.  I could feel the urgency that if something didn’t happen soon, the relief efforts would die and there was a lot left to do [$1.3 million].”  He continued, “CareFest was the ‘shot in the arm’ that was needed to bring renewed awareness of the ongoing needs of the flooded region. CareFest brought a new level of credibility and trust to encourage other organizations to rally alongside the relief efforts.  For example, United Way, Rochester Builders, and Salvation Army released designated flood recovery funds to us because they knew the money would be leveraged to do the most good for the victims.  Immediately we started to build momentum and strength for a long term recovery process.”