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Press Releases |
We are pleased to report progess in our efforts to help our Southern neighbors. These articles from The Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times and the Sea Coast Echo help to tell our story. |
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'The spirit they brought here lifted us up' Nearly four years after Hurricane Katrina washed away homes, businesses and livelihoods, some Hancock County, Miss., residents are plagued by the what-if questions. What if the late Bill Eastburn never pulled together businesspeople from Bucks and Montgomery counties to help? What if the group chose another community to benefit from its energies? And what if the economic recession had come three years earlier? "I'm not sure this county would have ever gotten this far without their support and help, not just financial but moral support," said Lisa Cowand, a Hancock County supervisor. "The spirit they brought here lifted us up." Fortunately for Cowand and others in the Gulf Coast towns of Bay St. Louis and Waveland, such questions won't need to be answered. In the aftermath of the August 2005 hurricane, a perfect storm of committed people gathered to give help and hope to those they'd never met. They called themselves the Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief Project. Joining Eastburn, a Doylestown attorney, was Mike Scobey, chief operating officer of the print division of Calkins Media, and Bob Byers Sr., founder of Byers' Choice. Partnering with The Salvation Army, the group turned to Bucks and Montgomery county residents, businesses, and organizations for support in raising money, restoring services, and rebuilding homes in the devastated region. Their work, which has touched many lives and attracted national attention as a model for disaster relief, is drawing to a close. The Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief Project is officially winding down, but it leaves behind a lasting legacy. "It's not goodbye. It's until we meet again," said Tish Williams, executive director of the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. "We have made so many lasting friendships. There is a piece of Bucks-Mont that has been left behind and (one) that they take back with them to Bucks-Mont." The Bucks-Mont project raised about $3 million in cash, gifts and in-kind services. The money was used to build a $1.25 million child development center, the first public building constructed in Hancock County, post-Katrina, and a $250,000 food pantry to serve the nearly 17,000 visitors per year. A group is still pursuing Bucks-Mont's third and final project - a $1.5 million animal shelter. Fundraising continues and organizers hope to begin construction this year. "We're shutting Bucks-Mont down but we're keeping up our involvement in there," said Bill Eastburn IV, who stepped into his father's shoes after his death, and, along with Doylestown attorney Tom Mellon, is leading the animal shelter project. The Eastburn family continues its involvement in Hancock County and is encouraging the next generation to get on board. Scores of individual volunteers have also helped restore a historic park, rebuild homes, and bring needed social services back to the region. Students studying to be social workers at the University of Pennsylvania have lent their expertise and knowledge to the area. Initially, they were going to head to New Orleans, but after hearing about the Bucks-Mont project they switched gears. Numerous churches and schools in the region also began raising money for victims of the storm. Much of that was funneled through the Bucks-Mont group for the people of Hancock County. And individual members of the group invested themselves in this southern community. People like Jon Otto, president of Penn Valley Constructors Inc. in Morrisville, spent untold hours overseeing the building projects and coordinating the numerous volunteer workers from the Delaware Valley. Doylestown attorney Maureen Gatto packed up her life and spent two years living in Mississippi as the group's on-site coordinator. "It's probably one of the finest examples of pulling together, helping another community. It was a unique project and I think we demonstrated what needs to be done in a disaster relief effort," said Grover Friend, the project's volunteer director. On April 18, the Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief Project received the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce's Humanitarian Award at the chamber's 36th annual Lifetime Achievement Awards banquet. Without Bucks-Mont, Williams believes, "We wouldn't have a food pantry. We wouldn't have plans for a new animal shelter. We wouldn't have the daycare center. We wouldn't have the hope to keep going. They've never given up on us." Sallie West has seen firsthand the ripple effects the Bucks-Mont project has created. The daycare center, where she works as program director, is serving 132 children, from birth to age 5, from low-income families. Before the storm, which destroyed most of the daycare facilities, the center was only licensed to serve 50 kids. Having more children means more employees are needed so more jobs have been created. The center went from 12 staffers to 30. There are 100 children on the waiting list and organizers get five to 10 applications a week. "This gift has been astronomical," said West, who personally owes a great deal of gratitude to the Bucks-Mont group for helping get her home back in order. Her husband Gary had fallen and fractured three ribs while doing home repairs after the storm. The Bucks-Mont group sent in a crew and completed the work. "It took such a huge load off my shoulders and helped me refocus on the childcare center," she said. "It came at a point where we were worn out." Despite the group's success, the project could not go on forever. Time and new issues have diverted people's attention away from Katrina. The economy has interfered with fundraising efforts. As Friend says, if Katrina struck today, the recession would have made the work "more challenging." "We cannot sustain (the group) ad infinitum and their needs are changing. It's now more of a governmental effort," he said. Government aid is starting to pour into Hancock County. Officials in Mississippi are expecting to receive $154 million in community development block grants and $338 million in FEMA funding to rebuild the region's infrastructure, including police and fire stations and schools, said Williams. State-of-the-art evacuation shelters, a county annex building, and a harbor development project are also in the works. The new county courthouse is expected to open in April or May. Hancock County residents are worried about the economy and the effect on a community still trying to rebound from one disaster. Tourism revenue, which the area relies on, is down. What was once a hub of weekend homes for New Orleans residents has all but flat lined. And businesses have closed or relocated to cities far from the dangers of the Gulf Coast. But Williams remains optimistic. She believes Hancock County's position as the closest beach to New Orleans and its great fishing and shrimping will bring people back. "It was the water that got us into this mess and it's the water that will get us out of this mess," she said. "The water sets us apart and makes this a special place to live." |
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Bucks Mont Katrina Project dedicates pantry, remembers a founder The Hancock County Food Pantry was dedicated on Friday, Jan. 30, the product of a partnership between the Bucks Mont Katrina Relief Project and the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast who continue to demonstrate their will power to recover from Hurricane Katrina, which devastated their community on Aug. 29, 2005. The pantry is “more than a work of hands, it is a work of faith,” according to Bill Blaisdell, executive director of the pantry, who joined 200 residents in thanking the people of the Bucks Mont for providing over $300,000 in materials, labor and funding to build it. “The best way to say thank you is to make a solemn promise to Bill (Eastburn III) and all the people involved to do what the building is intended to do and feed the needy of Hancock County,” Blaisdell said. Eastburn, one of founders of the Bucks Mont Katrina Project, passed away in March 2008. He was remembered again during an event in Tercentenary Park, Bay St. Louis, soon after the pantry dedication. A granite stone was placed in the historical park, recognizing Eastburn’s role in the relief effort and as an honorary citizen of Hancock County. “Many well-known people and old time family names are remembered in this park,” said Charles Gray of the local historical society. “Today we have a new family member.” Since opening its doors in 1986, the pantry has provided free food to almost 150,000 Hancock County citizens. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of people needing help. The pantry provided free food to approximately 17,660 clients in 2007 and 2008 as compared to an average of 12,600 in 2003 and 2004. The pantry is operated entirely by volunteers – there is no paid staff, and over 92% of the donations received are spent to provide food to those in need. |
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Hancock County Food Pantry a gift from near and far The Hancock County Food Pantry opens for business in a permanent location on Monday, Feb. 2 for the first time since Hurricane Katrina destroyed its previous location on Aug. 29, 2005. The new pantry is the result of small and large gifts, both cash and in-kind, from residents of Hancock County, Mississippi and donors and volunteers from the Bucks Mont Katrina Relief Project and The Salvation Army. Among the in-kind donors: · Dennis Wise: Rendering · Steve Tiberio: Architectural plans · Leonard and Robert Busch: Foundation design · Gilmore and Associates: Site plan · Larry Good: HVAC design · Dayspring: Electric design · R&S General Contractors: Installation of foundation system · Bill Ellis Volvo Rents: Fork lift · United Structures of America: Steel building at a discount · E. Allen Reeves: Installation of studs and drywall · Delran Builders: Installation of studs and drywall · Penn Valley Constructors: Installation of studs and drywall · Construction Hardware: Doors and hardware · Norman’s Glass: Storefront glass at a discount · Stanley Stephens: Floor covering and base · Ed, Dave, Steve and Joe Dierolf: Painting labor · Sherwin Williams: Paint · Bucks/Mont and Central New Jersey Chapters of NARI: Finish carpentry, installation of flooring · Leverne Hendricks: Coordination of final punch list details · Pam Zwerger: Stained glass commemorative plaque · Moore Friends for MS: Dedication plaque Among the cash donors: · Vince and Deardra Murphy · Gazer, Kohn, Mayer · Guy Cooper · Bob and Joyce Byers · Dave Richards · Phil Richards · Boone County · Syd and Sharon Martin · SEI · Jeff and Sally Nicholas · Jon and Lisa Otto · Cavan Construction · Corrado and Sons Masonry · RHR Mechanical · Dayspring Electric · Proceeds from the Bucks Mont Katrina Relief Project benefit picnic in June 2007. |
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Bucks Mont Katrina Project keeps a promise with dedication of food pantry |
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BMKP continues rebuilding effort |
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BMKP Ladies Fall Luncheon |
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BMKP puts focus on Animal Center August 29, 2008 marks the third-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Three years since the hurricane struck, much of the Gulf Coast remains devastated. While many volunteer organizations have abandoned the region, the BucksMont Katrina Relief Project remains active and steadfast to fulfill its commitments to its adopted sister communities in Hancock County, Mississippi. The BucksMont Katrina Relief Project was the brainchild of: Bob Byers Sr., founder of Byers’ Choice; Mike Scobey, chief operating officer of the print division of Calkins Media, Inc; and, Doylestown attorney Bill Eastburn III, who passed away in March. Immediately after the devastating storm, community leaders from Bucks and Montgomery Counties traveled to where the eye of Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 to devise a long-term relief and recovery plan. Through tireless efforts and countless hours, hundreds of BucksMont Katrina Relief Project volunteers, contributors and partners have brought a renewed sense of hope to a once-vibrant area. The effort has attracted national attention and offers a model for future disaster relief efforts. So far, it has raised over $3 million in cash, gifts and in-kind services to aid and comfort the residents of Hancock County. The contributions have funded medical and mental health professionals, assisted educational and child-care needs, supplied sports equipment and uniforms, furnished homebuilding and home repair supplies, and much more. By personally going and assisting with their hands and not just their wallets, BucksMont Katrina Relief Project volunteers and partners have built and repaired houses, staffed food kitchens and pantries, restored parks and civic spaces, performed legal work and, perhaps most importantly, spent time and listened to the hurricane survivors’ stories. In addition to the many smaller initiatives, the Hancock County Board of Supervisors asked the BucksMont Katrina Relief Project to undertake three special large-scale community projects: the building of daycare center, a food pantry and an animal center. The $1.25 million child development center was completed March of 2007 and was the first new community building completed after Hurricane Katrina in the county. BucksMont efforts are also responsible for the new, 3,000 square foot food pantry in Hancock County that serves 1,500 people and 500 families each month in a county of 42,000 residents. The next ambitious goal for BucksMont Katrina Relief Project is to fulfill the county’s desperate need for an animal care center. The 6,500 square foot Hancock County Animal Center will provide a haven for dogs and cats and other small household pets to receive medical care and, for those without homes, to await adoption. The BucksMont Katrina Animal Center Project is being spearheaded by Tom Mellon Jr., a Doylestown attorney, and Bill Eastburn IV, a designer and son of Bill Eastburn III. “While it made sense to put human needs firms, the focus of the BucksMont Katrina Project now turns to raising funds and commencing construction on a state of the art animal center,” says Mellon. Mellon - who has personally led eight trips of volunteers to Hancock County - understands how important and necessary the animal center is to the community: “Many lives were lost in Hancock County during Hurricane Katrina because people had nowhere to take their animals and so they stayed in their homes. The storm also greatly worsened the existing stray animal problem.” Ronnie Artigues, Solicitor of Hancock County, recently said in an interview, “The people of Hancock County and the many wonderful folks with BucksMont Katrina Relief Project have developed a very special relationship. Since Katrina, many lifelong friendships have been established. We are most grateful for the enormous amount of time, energy and money already provided to our citizens during recovery. However, the animal center is a tremendous need which we are ever so grateful to BucksMont for undertaking.” Bill Eastburn IV agrees: “Lifelong friendships have been made with this relief project and we need to show our friends in Mississippi that we are still here to help.” To Bill Eastburn IV, the completion of the animal center is personal because his father was co-founder of the Bucks Mont Katrina Relief Project. The week before Bill Eastburn III passed away, his family made one final commitment to him: to help complete the animal center. As Bill Eastburn IV explains, “My father witnessed the animal welfare crisis brought on by the devastating storm, but he also understood the resulting human health and safety concerns. Some 600,000 animals died or were left without shelter because of Hurricane Katrina. Stray dogs running loose are detrimental, especially to a place trying to rebuild. My father would say by creating a place for these animals, you will be helping them and the community they live in.” The Hancock County Animal Center will be built on land donated by Hancock County. In addition, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the United States have made generous contributions of $250,000 each. Many professional and educational organizations and individuals have committed additional resources and hundreds of volunteer hours to build the new animal center. Despite the already overwhelmingly generous contributions by Bucks and Montgomery County residents and business people, more donations of time and money are sorely needed to further better the lives of both animals and humans in Hancock County. Further inquiries should be directed to: Bill Eastburn IV: (215) 794-4194/ william.eastburn@comcast.net; or Tom Mellon Jr.: (215) 348-7700/ tmellon@mellonwebster.com. For more details - or to donate time or money! - please visit the BucksMont Katrina Relief Project website at www.bucksmontkatrinaproject.org or the BucksMont Katrina Animal Center Project website at www.bucksmontanimals.org. The Hancock County Animal Center is scheduled to begin construction in 2009. |
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Strengthening bonds By DOM COSENTINO The Intelligencer Spending the weekend in Bucks County didn't work out quite like the visiting residents of Hancock County, Miss., had expected. “You wonderful people are killing us with kindness,” said Margie Morken, who owns a bed and breakfast in Bay St. Louis, Miss., with her husband, Reg. “We came up here to thank you, and we can't get our thank-yous out because of all the wonderful things ya'll have done for us.” The group of Mississippi residents had come north to personally thank representatives of the Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief Project — and others — for their generosity in helping to rebuild Hancock County after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region in August 2005. The group's whirlwind weekend wrapped up with a lawn party Sunday outside the Doylestown office of The Intelligencer, the Courier Times' sister paper, complete with a Mississippi gumbo/Bucks County pig roast that also featured a Dixieland jazz ensemble. After arriving Friday afternoon, the Mississippi group had few moments to sit still. First, they were treated to a welcome reception on Friday evening at Byers Choice Ltd. in New Britain Township. They then toured historical places of interest around Bucks County on Saturday before gathering for an evening awards presentation and concert in which the Coast Chorale, a Mississippi choir, performed along with the Bucks County Choral Society at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Doylestown. Sunday, the Mississippi group, which had raised its own money for the trip, was treated to a tour of historic sites in Philadelphia before returning to Doylestown for the lawn party. They plan to head home today. “We didn't expect all of this, the red carpet stuff,” said Reg Morken, himself a member of the Coast Chorale. “Music is what we are, and there's been music every place we go, which is just fantastic. We haven't wanted for anything.” Tish Williams, the executive director of the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, said the weekend had helped to strengthen the bond between the two distant communities, to say nothing of the effect it has had on those whose community was so badly battered three years ago. “It was very therapeutic for us,” Williams said. “After the concert was over with (Saturday) night, we felt like we reached a major milestone. We could put Katrina behind us, even though it's going to take at least another 10 to 15 years until we'll actually be rebuilt.” The Bucks-Mont Katrina group was formed by the late Doylestown attorney Bill Eastburn; Mike Scobey, the chief operating officer of the print division of Calkins Media; and Bob Byers, the founder of Byers Choice. Partnered with the Salvation Army and other local volunteers, the group has raised an estimated $3 million for reconstruction efforts, including a $1.25 million child development center dedicated last year and a to-be-completed food pantry and animal shelter. “One of the things that maybe you might take for granted living here is we have actually been marveling at the grass and the trees and all the beautiful flowers, because we're not there yet,” Williams said. “Your town is what we want our town to become. And the thing that's the greatest thing is that here we are, two people so far apart geographically, and now we will have all these relationships that will last a lifetime.” |
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Humanitarian, Doylestown attorney Bill Eastburn, 75 By FREDA SAVANA The Intelligencer Bill Eastburn made a difference. Whether practicing law, caring for his family or improving the lives of strangers across the country, he never failed to bring out the best in others. The distinguished attorney and committed humanitarian died Friday afternoon at his Buckingham home after battling lung cancer. A nonsmoker, he was 75. For nearly five decades, Eastburn practiced law with Eastburn and Gray, a 120-year-old Doylestown firm. Early in his career he also served as Bucks County assistant district attorney. However, Eastburn’s life work extended far beyond his skilled legal expertise. A gifted leader, he inspired people to give of themselves and, time after time, found opportunities to employ his motto to “take a negative and turn it into a positive.” Most recently, he was instrumental in creating the Bucks Mont Katrina Relief Project, which aided victims of Hurricane Katrina, raising more than $2 million in cash and donations for the people of Hancock County, Miss. “He was the driver of the whole bus,” said Mike Scobey, Intelligencer publisher and director of the print division of Calkins Media, who worked with Eastburn on the ambitious project. “He inspired people to get involved. He energized people.” Through the combined efforts of many, including Jon Otto, Bob Byers and the Salvation Army, the Katrina project successfully built a child-care center and is in the process of building an animal shelter. Years earlier, it was the plight of Navajo men that moved Eastburn to action. While in Rome, attending the elevation of Archbishop Bevilacqua to cardinal, Eastburn learned from a New Mexico bishop that 17 American Indians froze to death from a lack of blankets. Eastburn and his wife, Connie, subsequently founded Americans for Native Americans, a grass-roots nonprofit organization that has been raising money for humanitarian efforts in the Southwest for more than 15 years. “It is truly a community effort,” said Cap Roberts of Erwinna, who has worked with ANA for years. “I consider it a privilege to know Bill and be part of an effort to do what I can, when I can and if I can,” said Roberts. He called the organization an “important legacy” of Eastburn’s. Connie Eastburn, who spoke Saturday of her husband’s “infectious spirit,” said the work of ANA will go on. It was Bill Eastburn’s unparalleled ability to bring disparate people together for a common purpose that set him apart, said those who knew him well. “He was a high-energy guy. When he saw something, he was relentless in pursuing it,” said Rod Eastburn, an attorney in the same law firm who worked with Bill Eastburn for some 30 years. “He was always trying to help people.” Eastburn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and joined the bar in 1962. He started his career with the Bucks County district attorney’s office, and then the Office of Attorney General of Pennsylvania. He has served as president of the Bucks County Bar Association, chairman of the Delaware Valley Bar Association and president of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation. In the parking lot of his Doylestown office in July 1993, a mentally unstable former client attempted to kill Eastburn by shooting him in the chest with a revolver. Critically injured, he made a full recovery and went on to organize Voice of Reason with Dr. Bill Schwab, a trauma surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania, who operated on him. The group works to reduce gun violence. Eastburn has lent his expertise to many other local organizations, including: board member of the Heritage Conservancy, chairman of the Bucks County Commission on Violence Prevention Task Force, board member of the Free Clinic of Doylestown Hospital and co-founder and chairman of TODAY drug treatment program. For Eastburn’s family, which includes five children and 12 grandchildren, his death will leave a void that can never be filled. His 101-year-old mother, Nancy W. Eastburn, also survives him. His daughter Holly MacEwan of Falmouth, Maine, said this: “My overwhelming feeling is one of love and profound gratitude for being his daughter. He has shown us every day of our lives that the true joy in life is giving to others. We will all carry that forward.” When Eastburn received Bucks County’s Distinguished Citizen Award in 2007, he remained humble, saying he and his wife of 47 years were the ones who were blessed. “Connie and I want to send the community a message. If our lives stand for anything, it’s to put it back because you get so much more out of life by putting it back. What Connie and I have done together — and it has been together — is absolutely enriching,” he said. Obituary and Memorial Service information William H. Eastburn III Humanitarian, prominent lawyer and philanthropist William H. Eastburn III, Esquire of Doylestown, passed away on Friday, March 7, 2008, following a courageous battle with cancer. He died at home surrounded by his adoring family. Born in Germantown, Pa., in 1932, Bill was the son of Nancy W. Eastburn, age 101, who survives him, and William H. Eastburn II. A man of great energy and passion, Bill was educated at Mount Hermon School in Northfield, Mass. He received his bachelor of arts degree with honors from Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., where he was national president of Delta Kappa Epsilon. Having a lifelong interest in Trinity, he was extremely proud of the fact that three of his children as well as a son-in-law and daughter-in-law also attended his college. He earned his law degree at the University of Pennsylvania, Class of 1959. While in law school, he met his wife, Constance Allen, with whom he shared his life since the time he took her out on her 21st birthday. Connie and Bill were married 47 years. Bill's legal career began at Eastburn and Gray in 1959. Although the firm was a small, general practice firm at the time, Bill soon developed a specialty in land use and real estate. As his practice grew, he mentored many younger attorneys. Over the years, Bill continued this pattern of developing a new expertise, drawing a larger client base and training associates to follow in his footsteps. Bill nevertheless remained loyal to and actively worked with many long-term clients with whom he shared more than 45 years of history and memories. His outstanding skills as a lawyer, leader, manager, and mentor were in large part responsible for Eastburn and Gray's reputation and growth as an outstanding law firm of specialists. Bill's humanitarian and philanthropic efforts are renowned, and he worked diligently throughout his life to establish organizations and programs to advance the wellbeing of others. His passionate and courageous spirit have been evident throughout his life, from the time he served as a lifeguard at the age of 25. During the hurricane of 1958, Bill made five trips into deep water 100 yards offshore in dense fog, saving the lives of four people who were caught in a sudden and strong riptide. His heroic efforts were cited by the then Governor of Rhode Island. Dr. John Howell, director of TODAY Inc. (the adolescent substance abuse facility) states: "Bill Eastburn was truly a community leader and a visionary. In 1970, he was a founder of TODAY Inc. in Newtown. Each year TODAY touches the lives of thousands of kids and families through its various services. Since its inception, over 20,000 young people have completed the inpatient program. During the past 38 years, Bill maintained a high level of involvement serving as chairman of the board of directors. While in Rome in 1991, attending the elevation of Archbishop Bevilacqua to the position of Cardinal, Connie, Bill, and the late Monsignor Teller were informed by Bishop Donald Pelotte of New Mexico that 17 Navajo men had perished the previous year because of a lack of blankets. In response to the need, they founded Americans for Native Americans, which is still actively involved with improving the quality of life for Native Americans. Bill's personal mantra, "Take a negative and turn it into a positive" is demonstrated in the founding of Voice of Reason. Following an attempt on his life, in July of 1993, when a mentally unstable former client shot him with a .38 caliber revolver in the parking lot of his Doylestown office, Eastburn founded, and served as chairman of the board of, the Voice of Reason, an organization of people committed to reducing gun violence without infringing on personal liberties. He also served as chairman of the Bucks County Commission on Violence Prevention Task Force (1995 to present) and chairman of the Bucks County Implementation Commission on Violence Prevention (1996 to present). Dr. William Schwab at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania states, "Nobody that I know lives closer to how God wants us to live. He taught me to put good into everything I do. There are few people who have this effect on the world. He changed the world! He was the best of men. He was a giant. He was generous and the most wonderful of friends." When Connie recently said to Judge Edmund V. Ludwig, "He is your best friend, isn't he?" Ludwig replied, "Bill is everyone's best friend." In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Bill found himself losing sleep because of his concern for its victims. In response, he founded the Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief Fund, a coalition of agencies and individuals who have raised more than two million in cash and in-kind services to rebuild the devastated towns of Waveland and Bay St. Louis in Mississippi. "This could be a model for the whole country, where a community that is as healthy and vibrant as those of Bucks and Eastern Montgomery County can reach out to another community that has been destroyed and help them to rebuild. And if communities all over the country would do this, it would be a great model," Bill said. In partnership with the Salvation Army, they have completed a childcare center and numerous rebuilding projects are currently in process including an animal center, which is very close to Bill's heart. Additionally, Eastburn served on the board of directors of the Western Health Foundations, the Bucks County Heritage Conservancy, First Service Bank and its executive committee, the Free Clinic of Doylestown Hospital, Wealth Management Board of National Penn Bank, and as a corporation member of the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. He also served on various fundraising committees. "It's not too often that you meet someone with a heart of gold, a brilliant mind, a humanitarian spirit, and a life that is truly inspirational to me and to all who know him," Susan Snyder, writer. He received the 1991 Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Bucks County Chamber of Commerce and the 2007 Citizens of Distinction Award by the Board of Bucks County Commissioners. During his distinguished career, Bill was a former chairman of the Human Services Council of Bucks County and Task Force. His memberships include: the Pennsylvania Trial Court Nominating Commission (1977 and 1990); Faculty, Pennsylvania College of the Judiciary (1998); Bucks County Bar Association (President, 1976-1977); Pennsylvania House of Delegates, 1982-1988 and 1991; Pennsylvania Bar Foundation (Chair, 1995); Board of Governors, 1988-1991 and American Bar Associations; American Judicature Society; The Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He was also a delegate to the Third Circuit Judicial Conference, 1986, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a Trustee of Peddler's Village, for five years. When asked recently by a reporter what he considered his greatest accomplishment, he quickly responded, "My five outstanding children." Bill is survived by his beloved wife of 47 years, Connie Allen Eastburn. He is the father of five loving children, Page Eastburn O'Rourke and her husband, Kevin, of Yarmouth, Maine, Holly Eastburn MacEwan and her husband, Alan, of Falmouth, Maine, William H. Eastburn IV and his wife, Charlotte, of New Hope, Christopher A. Eastburn and his wife, Jane, of Arlington, Mass., and Brooke Eastburn and her husband, Michael, of Los Angeles, Calif. He was affectionately known as Boppa to his 12 adoring grandchildren, Griffin and Duncan O'Rourke, Ellie, Graham, and Louisa MacEwan, Henry and Lydia Eastburn, Adrian and Simon Rigopulos, Quinn Eastburn, and Eva and William Eastburn Lauterbach. Bill was the brother of Gail Eastburn Schultz of Helendale, Calif., and the late Linda Eastburn of Pinehurst, N.C. He attended Doylestown Presbyterian Church in Doylestown. In 1981, he founded a men's Bible study affectionately known as the "Dawn Patrol" which continues to enrich the lives of its members. An Ecumenical memorial service celebrating Bill's life, distinguished career, and humanitarian spirit will be held 3 p.m. Friday, April 4, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 235 E. State St., Doylestown. Contributions in his name may be made to any of the following organizations that Bill believed in: Salvation Army/Bucks-Mont Katrina Animal Center, Attn: Collette McBratney- BMKA 701 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19123; Americans for Native Americans, P.O. Box 1389, Doylestown, PA 18901; or Doylestown Presbyterian Church, 127 E. Court St., Doylestown, PA 18901. He has truly given back all of the gifts that he has been blessed with. He advises all people, especially future generations to "Put it back. When you get a great deal out of life, put it back." Joseph A. Fluehr III Funeral Home, New Britain |
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Artists' plight in spotlight By EDWARD LEVENSON The Intelligencer Hurricane Katrina not only wiped out many artists' studios in Bay St. Louis, Miss., it washed away their works of art. “My whole career as an artist went under water,” said Kat Fitzpatrick, who paints using heated colored beeswax in a process called encaustic. She said the floodwaters that inundated her studio deposited pigments all over the yard, creating “beautiful debris.” Fitzpatrick and two other artists from the Hancock County community were guests of honor Sept. 7 at the First Friday celebration in downtown Doylestown. The event spotlighted the Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief Project, which has raised $2.3 million in monetary and in-kind donations to help the devastated communities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland. Before the storm, the towns were like New Hope on the Gulf of Mexico, with dozens of art galleries attracting visitors and tourists. Two years later, the arts community is struggling to rebuild. “We've lost a lot of artists,” said Liz Schafer, estimating that 100 of the 300 pre-Katrina artists have not returned. Schafer, who describes herself as a “painter of music,” said about half of her 400 paintings stored in her studio were destroyed or damaged. She managed to salvage some by using pieces to create Katrina quilts. Ruth Thompson, who both paints and makes pottery, said her kiln and pottery wheels were destroyed. She is renting studio space to continue her career. Work by the three artists was for sale at First Friday and also will be shown at the Sabine Rose Gallery and Michelyn Gallery in Doylestown. An exhibition by 40 to 50 Hancock County artists is planned for next May in Doylestown. The women said they are grateful for the help to their towns from the Katrina Relief Project, which has included construction of a child day care center for Hancock County. None of the artists had been to Bucks or Montgomery counties before. “It's so humbling for people to care so much about people they don't even know,” Schafer said. The hurricane's “silver lining” is that “we get to meet all these beautiful people we never would have met except for Katrina.” Said Thompson, “They're so adamant about helping us. I've never seen such an outpouring of love and caring.” Fitzpatrick said she is impressed by the Katrina project's commitment to a long-term relationship with Hancock County. “These people are amazing,” she said. |
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Penn graduate students reach out in Pearlington By Bennie Shallbetter The Sea Coast Echo When the Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief Project shared information about its recovery efforts in Hancock County with the University of Pennsylvania, the school's Social Policy and Practice Department decided to get involved. In March and again in May, department Dean Richard Gelles and Dr. Joretha Bourjolly visited the area to conduct a social services needs assessment. Recently, a team of three graduate students arrived in Pearlington to spend a month working with the folks at the Pearlington Recovery Center. The women will concentrate primarily on conducting a door to door survey of the community that will hopefully give the center a better idea of where the community stands with regard to population, degree of recovery, unmet needs and future evacuation requirements of the residents. The women will also carry the news to residents that if they plan to rebuild, they need to get a permit, now. With new FEMA guidelines expected to get even more stringent, obtaining a building permit now is a good idea, said center coordinator Laurie Spaschak. Though the information on the community's needs will be recorded to help with recovery efforts, all individual answers will be confidential, said Spaschak. The women will fill out a survey sheet for each household and ask for information on age and number of family members, medical needs and transportation needs for appointments, condition of septic and water systems, rebuilding plans, funding availability from the grant or other sources for those plans, whether the household has registered for help with a case manager, immediate needs such as mortgage, food or utility help, and evacuation plans for a future storm. A list of helpful numbers will also be distributed. The center hopes the information will help to reassess the needs of Pearlington, which may have been underestimated, workers there think. The arrival of 140 children to camp at the old library, rather than the expected 60 or 70, enforced that belief, said Spaschak. "People may be unaware that they can get help or they may think that they don't qualify for help," said Spaschak. "We want to make sure that people are aware of the help available and that no one falls through the cracks if they need help. The survey will also help by just having people out there checking on people who can't get out. " Team leader is Connie Hoe, a recent graduate of the university's social policy and practice department, Nambee Yun, another recent graduate, and Crystal Lucas, a first year master's student. The group hopes the experience will serve two purposes, offer them real life experience, and help the people in Hancock County. The women hope in the process of the survey, they say, that besides gathering important information, they can be compassionate listeners to people's concerns and stories. By understanding resident's hurricane experience and ensuing challenges to recovery, the women say they also hope to come up with new ways to help and build a long term relationship with the school in the community. |
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Day care ready for business By HILARY BENTMAN phillyBurbs.com WAVELAND, Miss. — A large banner hung over the front of the building, reading “Futures Filled with Hope.” There was perhaps no better sign of this than the group of toddlers tossing grass and sitting leisurely in the sun in front of their building. Hundreds of adults were also there, to recognize and celebrate the work, time and money that went into the Hancock County Child Development Center, the first public building constructed in the Mississippi county after Hurricane Katrina. The $1.25 million daycare center was made possible by the Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief Project, a group of Bucks and Montgomery County residents who came together after the devastation to help those they didn't even know. “This is much more than a dedication of a building. It's a symbol to the entire country,” said Grover Friend, former CEO of Calkins Media and volunteer director of the Bucks-Mont project, who is hoping the work will serve as a national model for the cooperation among communities in future disaster situations. Through its partnership with The Salvation Army, the group so far has raised $2.65 million in financial contributions and donations of goods and services to aid the people of the twin Gulf towns of Bay St. Louis and Waveland. The 10,000-square-foot daycare center has been the group's cornerstone project since ground was broken less than a year ago. But the center was just the first stop Tuesday on a tour that also included the rebirth of a historic park and the groundbreaking on a new animal center, all Bucks-Mont projects. “Welcome to Hancock County, where God not only answers prayers but makes miracles happen, makes longtime dreams come true and always fills our future with hope,” said Lora Mederos, executive director of the Hancock County Human Resources Association. She could barely hold back the tears looking at the new building that will accommodate 124 children, including infants. The facility has 18 rooms with observation windows, brightly colored walls and children's names already assigned to cubbyholes. “The doors are set in place, the windows have been washed, the floors have been buffed. The only thing missing are the little wiggly ones we see around us,” said Jorge Diaz, a major with The Salvation Army. “We look forward to the crayon markings on the bathroom walls.” Before the hurricane, there were 12 daycare centers in Hancock County housing 1,497 children. After the storm, just three remained, with room for 171. The new center will serve working families, many of whom lived in public housing destroyed by Katrina. Families pay fees based on their income level. In total, 150 construction workers from the Delaware Valley traveled to Mississippi to work on the building. About 1,600 readers of The Intelligencer and the Bucks County Courier Times donated money, ranging from $2 to $100,000, said Intelligencer Publisher Mike Scobey, one of the founding members of the group. Employees at Fred Beans automotives also donated $113,000 worth of furnishings to outfit the new center. Lisa Cowand met members of the Bucks-Mont Group just a few days after Katrina. “We were still wet, with no shoes on, no food, no nothing,” said the vice chairwoman of the Hancock Board of Supervisors. “These people wrapped their arms around us and have not let go.” There was perhaps no one more excited about work of Bucks-Mont leaders than Charles Gray, executive director of the Hancock Historical Society. “When I die I'm going to have to talk to my grandfather, because that's not what he told me about Yankees,” Gray said. |
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Relief work will go on The Katrina Relief Project has agreed to pay Gatto $3,000 in expenses for the first two months. Friend said the group will wait to see how things develop before authorizing any other payments. Gatto, a lawyer, traveled to Hancock County in April with a group of other Bucks lawyers and relatives to do volunteer work for a week. She was so moved by her experience, she decided to make a physical move from Doylestown to the Mississippi coast. “About mid-week when I was here in April, I just felt something in my soul telling me there will be another time for me to return here, and for a longer commitment,” Gatto said. “When I got back to Doylestown, I gave myself a month, but the feeling never went away.” Her children were grown, her law practice in Bensalem could be put on hold. The only thing that remained was to convince her husband, Dennis McKenna, that this was a good idea. After a few conversations, she said, he came around. Now, Gatto is living in a rented room in Gulfport, about 30 minutes from the Bay Waveland area. She is working from a folding table in the corner of the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce in Bay St. Louis. She has spent her first two weeks meeting as many people in the area as she can and trying to help coordinate the next few groups of Bucks-Mont volunteers who are about to head down to Hancock County. |
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Local effort spawned outpouring of support By SARAH LARSON The Intelligencer Hurricane Katrina unleashed a furious storm on the southern United States, but it also unleashed a flood of goodwill from around the country to the survivors. Here at home, a group that came to be called the Bucks-Mont Bay-Waveland Katrina Relief Project designed what they believed was a new model for disaster assistance. What if an entire unscathed community adopted one devastated community? What if that partnership could deepen over time, forging relationships between families, between schools, between community groups, between friends? And what if it worked? If it worked, they reasoned, it could be a blueprint for a new way to help those in need. Now, one year later, most people involved in the Katrina Relief Project — from the donors here at home to the recipients in Hancock County, Miss. — would say it's been a nearly unqualified success. “When we started, we had no idea whether we'd still be together a year later,” said Bill Eastburn, the Doylestown attorney who hatched the idea for the project. “Now, we're still growing stronger and working on all these new initiatives. There is just so much to be done. I don't think we had any concept of what the needs were when we went in there.” Hurricane Katrina hit the morning of Aug. 29, 2005. Most of us watched in horror over the next few days as civilization seemed to break down. People caught in the path of the storm were without clean water, they had no food, nowhere to sleep. Telephones didn't work, roads were nearly impassable. Those of us safe in the north watched on television as the plight down south grew more desperate by the hour. Only once the storm victims' first, most critical needs were met did we all begin to realize the utter devastation the storm had caused. The region faced a massive job of rebuilding. At his home in Doylestown Township, Eastburn woke up one morning at 3 a.m. a few days after the storm. “I had this thought that the way we were handling Katrina-type catastrophes was ill advised, and that the private sector could do a better job,” he said. “FEMA certainly proved to be inadequate.” Later, he called two people. To Intelligencer publisher Mike Scobey, he pitched the idea of an effort that would stretch across Bucks and eastern Montgomery counties to raise money for Katrina victims. Scobey pledged the newspaper's support. “We have had a very successful Christmas fund, where our readers pledged money to support our local Bucks County Opportunity Council, and we thought our readers would step up to the plate and respond to the need in Louisiana and Mississippi,” Scobey said. “We know that local community newspapers can be a catalyst to bring support to any good cause and effort. And we could tell the story of our community efforts.” The Intelligencer's sister paper, the Courier Times, soon joined the effort and since then, more than 50 news stories have been written about the Katrina Relief Project. Reporters and photographers have traveled to Hancock County five times to describe life in the wake of the storm and how the Bucks Mont group is helping. Next, Eastburn called on Bob Byers Sr., of Byers Choice Ltd., “the number one philanthropist in Bucks County and the most caring person I know.” Byers not only agreed to become one of the project's founders, he and his family also donated $100,000 to kick-start the fundraising. In the months since, Byers has said repeatedly that he and the other donors are getting more out of the experience than the recipients in Mississippi. It was Byers who suggested partnering with The Salvation Army; he serves on the charity's national advisory board. The Army agreed, and named Collette McBratney as its liaison to the project. Then the three leaders put out the call to their considerable network of friends and business associates across the area. The first general meeting of people interested in helping the new Katrina Relief Project drew more than 140 community leaders from across Central and Upper Bucks and Eastern Montgomery. At the end of September, project leaders announced that they have chosen the Mississippi communities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland, neighboring towns on the Gulf Coast that were directly assaulted by what the National Weather Service now calls the costliest U.S. hurricane on record. Working with governmental leaders in Hancock County, the Bucks Mont group decided it will build a new day-care center. Katrina wiped out several centers, leaving parents with no one to care for their young children. Without such care, parents couldn't begin tackling rebuilding their homes, much less return to work. Jon Otto, of the commercial development company Penn Valley Constructors, was tapped to oversee construction of the $1.25 million center. Otto has donated untold hours of his time and paid for his own travel on at least seven trips to Hancock County to supervise the project. Over the past 12 months, the Bucks-Mont Bay-Waveland Katrina Relief Project has drawn together hundreds if not thousands of southeastern Pennsylvania residents to help in whatever way they could. The ongoing effort has been massive. Here are but a few of the project's accomplishments: · Hundreds of people from across the area donated money to the effort. Donations from The Intelligencer's readers came in amounts ranging from $10 to $500. Big money donors wrote checks, too. As of last week, the total cash raised to date stood at $1,206,573.64. · Dozens of contractors from across southeastern Pennsylvania have donated building supplies and their workers' labor and travel to Hancock County to help build the day care center. These in-kind donations have been estimated as worth at least $800,000. · Employees of Fred Beans car dealerships donated more than $75,000, and Fred and Beth Beans donated the remaining $35,000 to outfit the inside of the day-care center. · Hundreds of families across the area spent what must have amounted to tens of thousands of dollars to adopt families in Hancock County for Christmas. Some even gave up buying their own Christmas presents so they could do more for their adopted families. Donors sent doll houses, stuffed animals, video games, bicycles, even a washer and dryer. Many added in holiday decorations and treats like home-baked cookies for the Mississippi families. · Several area teenagers devised service projects in conjunction with the relief effort. Some sold specially designed magnets to raise money for the fund, while others ran various fundraisers. Andy Huber, a senior last year at Council Rock North, collected used musical instruments and money to repair them. The drive was so successful that he was able to restock the bands at two high schools in Bay St. Louis, the public school, Bay High, and St. Stanislaus College, a Catholic all-boys school. · Churches and their leaders and members have played an important role in the effort. Matt Reed, a pastor at Calvary Church in Hilltown Township, has organized several work trips to Hancock County. Three Lutheran churches in Central Bucks have held several fundraisers enabling them to send more than $45,000 to the Lutheran Church of the Pines in Waveland to help the flooded church restore its interior. · Several Bucks County residents opened their homes this summer to teachers from the Bay Waveland School District for a relaxing vacation in the northeast. · Bucks County history buffs are raising money to restore Bay St. Louis' Tercentenary Park, a small memorial park on the town's oceanfront that marks the 300th anniversary of its discovery. A wine and cheese fundraiser will be held at the Mercer Museum on Sept. 26. · After learning the wait to see a psychiatric or drug and alcohol counselor in Hancock County was about eight weeks, the group donated $75,000 to Gulf Coast Mental Health. The money will be used to pay the salaries of two new counselors, significantly cutting the waiting time for those services. That money came through the larger Katrina Relief Project from CB Cares, the North Penn YMCA and the United Way of Bucks County. One year after Katrina, the Bucks Mont group is still in full swing. Project leaders meet every month, with large, community meetings about every quarter. The day-care center is rising from the Mississippi earth, the only new public building being built in Hancock County since the storm. It is on track to open in November, with a celebration to mark the event in early December. Plans to help raise money to build a new animal shelter for Hancock County are underway. A committee, headed by Nockamixon's Mike Moss, has been formed and is moving ahead with ideas, while Hancock County leaders try to find a site for the shelter. And a new effort is forming to give grants to Hancock County homeowners to rebuild their homes if they have received little or no money from FEMA or their insurance money. The Bucks-Mont group is partnering with City Team Ministries, which has been working in Hancock County since the storm, to review applicants and select families to help. Each family would get $20,000. Bob Byers has once again led the way, writing the first $20,000 check to kick off the program. A team of skilled builders from the area already has spent a week in Hancock County, donating their skills and time to help three families rebuild their homes. Another team is set to go down in early September. As the Bucks-Mont effort continues to expand, its leaders have visions of taking the blueprint nationwide. “Our ultimate hope is to get other communities to adopt a similar model,” Eastburn said, “because we seem to have catastrophes more often now.” |
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Destruction still evident |
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Rebuilding, one house at a time |
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