Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Honors Muskogee Ministerial Alliance at Muskogee Civic Center Aug. 7 at 3 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- Oklahoma Cabinet Secretary for Human Services Howard H. Hendrick will honor the Muskogee Ministerial Alliance at the Muskogee Civic Center Aug. 7 at 3 p.m. The group will receive recognition as the national first place winner in the “Emergency Disaster Response” category of “The Partners in Transformation” contest for their work during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The Oklahoma Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives will host the awards ceremony and reception. Muskogee Mayor Wren Stratton will also participate in the event.

The Points of Lights Foundation, the Faith and Service Technical Education Network (FASTEN) and the Oklahoma Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives co-sponsored the contest. More than 260 programs from ten states were judged on their outcomes, degree and value of their collaboration with partners outside the faith community, creativity, cost effectiveness and their ability to mobilize volunteers.

Through its collaboration with the Red Cross, Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Muskogee Ministerial Alliance’s “Disaster Relief Team” assisted more than 700 hurricane evacuees at Camp Gruber near Braggs, Okla. The team provided immediate aid and matched each evacuee family wishing to settle in Oklahoma with a sponsor church.

For more information, contact the Oklahoma Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, (405) 522-0606.

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