Report from Danny Wuerffel

Received this recent email forwarded from a friend. FYI, Danny Wuerffel is a former Heismen Trophy quarterback from the U. of Florida. A request is made here for money. It should be legitimate, though you can verify through Greg Doles (note an earlier posting about Desire Street Ministries). I am posting information as I receive it and requests for money by churches and ministries other than MNA and World Relief has not been endorsed by Tenth trustees. Nevertheless, whatever I post is connected with a valid PCA church/ministry. Desire Street Ministries Director, Mo Leverett, by the way, is the speaker booked for our next Urban Missions Conference next March.

"I just got off the phone with Danny Wuerffel, former Gator quarterback and current (or at least recent) resident of New Orleans. Danny and his family are safe and sound in Fort Walton Beach. His home is destroyed (water up to the roof), as is the Desire Street Ministries site, where he works. He said that, of the two major levee breaches, one was right next to DSM, which is in New Orleans's 9th ward, and the other was right next to his house.

"In case you're not familiar with Danny's work in New Orleans, he is the Director of Development for Desire Street Ministries, an organization that works with some of the very poorest families in New Orleans. A few years ago, they started a school called Desire Street Academy. I've visited the school, and I can attest to the fact that they do a wonderful job redirecting the lives of boys who would otherwise have no hope at all. The philosophy of the organization is the development of indigenous leadership--finding those with the potential to change the course of the community and developing their skills to actually do it.

"Of course, Danny's concerns right now are with the families that DSM works with. Danny and the staff at DSM are working furiously to track down these families, and he just got a call from Texas where 31 of them had been kicked out of a hotel because they have no money. Right now, what they need most is money. He's concerned that money from the Red Cross may not filter down to the families in the Desire Street neighborhood as much as it as needed there, so he was happy to hear there
were Gators and others out there willing to donate directly. This is one way you can donate money that you KNOW every penny will go to help those in desperate need.

"He said that there are two ways to donate money to help out. The best way is to mail a check, payable to Desire Street Ministries to Whitney National Bank Mail Teller, 1716 Mangum Road, Houston, TX 77092."