AJC to Help Rebuild Midwest Churches Damaged by Tornadoes

NEW YORK, March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC is donating funds to help rebuild houses of worship and provide humanitarian relief in several Midwest communities hit by dozens of powerful tornadoes earlier this month. The donations come from AJC's Heilbrunn Humanitarian Relief Fund.

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"Our tradition impels us to help those in need," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "AJC's contributions will assist some of the Midwesterners who struggle to recover from the devastation to property and lives wrought by dozens of tornadoes."

Recipients of the AJC donations include:

• The Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis to assist in the rebuilding of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Henryville, Indiana, a town devastated by tornadoes.
• The Presbytery of Ohio Valley, based in Bloomington, Indiana, to assist in tornado relief. In addition to damage to churches, many of the Presbytery's members lost homes and businesses.
• The Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church to assist in the rebuilding of the United Methodist Church of West Libertyville, KY. The church was destroyed by a tornado.
• The Jewish Community of Louisville for its tornado relief fund, established to provide humanitarian assistance.

AJC's long history of helping to restore houses of worship includes the rebuilding of historic African American churches in the South that were torched during the 1990s, the restoration of a Catholic church and a synagogue in New Orleans damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and a Greek Orthodox Church in New York that will be erected to replace the one destroyed on September 11, 2001.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee