Heat Relief
This month, I have on my mind and heart all those who are outside in the heat in this Arizona summer. Today, for example, the high temperature is 112 degrees. It is hard for us to imagine what it is like to be out the whole day in such heat and then to sleep at night in high temperatures.
The Arizona Faith Network is an “interfaith organization dedicated to bringing people together to promote peace and understanding through interfaith education and dialogue as well as healing of the world through collaborative social action” (website). I have decided to donate the funds that have come in through paid subscriptions to AFN because of the work they do to relieve people who are living out in the heat.
I learned about the heat relief efforts of AFN when I was serving at Saint Mary’s Basilica last summer. Grace Lutheran Church, down the street from the Basilica, was offering heat relief to the homeless during the week, and different churches were volunteering to serve lunch and staff the air-conditioned hall where the people were staying during the hottest parts of the day. Saint Mary’s volunteered a few times throughout the summer, and I was able to join them twice.
You can read more about the heat relief efforts and locations here. You will notice if you scroll down that there are no Catholic parishes on the list of heat relief locations. Yesterday at lunch, one of our staff members was wondering out loud about what we could be doing as a parish for the many needy people in our area. Maybe opening a heat relief center is not possible for us, given that we have Summer School and Vacation Bible School throughout the summer. But donating to the heat relief efforts of AFN is one way. One staff member talked about providing cold water for people. Another staff member talked about how Father Lankeit, our former rector, would keep some food that he could give away in his car for people he met on the street. Father Harold told us about how important new socks or shoes can be for people.
I know not everyone subscribing here is from Arizona, and different places have different problems. The heat is unavoidable here, and so my mind turned to those who do not have an air-conditioned home or workplace to go to in this heat. Thank you to all those who have done a paid subscription. And thank you to everyone for reading my blog.