MEDFORD — After the Spanish Mass Sept. 20 at Sacred Heart Parish here, Archbishop Alexander Sample passed along a fire relief check from Holy Trinity Parish in Beaverton in the amount of $10,000.
That adds to the thousands of dollars donated by Southern Oregon Catholics to help peers who lost their homes in the region’s devastating Almeda Fire. A large wicker contribution basket stands in front of the altar at Sacred Heart.
“I try to have a 24-hour turnaround,” said Father Ken Sampson, pastor of Sacred Heart, which saw 150 parishioners lose homes, many of them Hispanics of modest means. “As soon as we get a contribution, we get it out to the families.”
Some households who lived in mobile homes had in the past been turned down for homeowners insurance, leaving them financially devastated.
.....continue at Catholic Sentential News Story