Like the folks at Children's Mercy Hospital and others in the metro, volunteers for the Olathe-based relief organization Heart to Heart International were on the ground in Louisiana after Katrina hit. But their efforts have been far more widespread and ongoing. The group was founded more than ten years ago by Dr. Gary Morsch, an Olathe physician. Since its first effort (an airlift of medical supplies to Moscow), the group says it has delivered more than $300 million worth of medicine and supplies to people who need help in more than 100 countries -- including here in the United States, where the dirty laundry of poverty got a fresh airing down in New Orleans. Morsch and his volunteers established a base in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, where their medical team tried to help with the casualties; they also delivered truckloads of supplies to the region. Volunteers stationed themselves in Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi, and sent help to evacuation centers in Memphis and Houston. The group's official literature says it was inspired by a Christian call to service, but Heart to Heart says its mission is simply to serve "all people in need without regard to race, religion, personal or political beliefs." These are our kinds of Christians.
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