Florida Church Backpack Drive Will Help Louisiana Families Affected by Oil Spill

LONGWOOD, Fla., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- This weekend, Northland, A Church Distributed will host a backpack drive to collect school supplies for families in need in Central Florida, as well as those affected by the oil spill in Houma, La.

Northland's connection to Houma is a virtual one. The church is partnering with one of its online congregants, Terri Goulette, who worships with 2,000 others from around the world each weekend via interactive webstream.

Goulette, who lives in an area that has been severely affected by the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, wanted to do something to help the families who lost their livelihood as a result of the spill. One morning she awoke with an idea: backpack drive. Remembering Northland's annual school drive, she invited her church family in Florida to join her in gathering 1,000 backpacks and school supplies for the children of commercial fishermen, shrimpers, oystermen, truck drivers, ice factory workers and others.

"They were expecting a plentiful season this year, but just two weeks before the fishing season opened, the oil spill happened," Goulette explains. "It has been very hard riding down the bayous and seeing all the shrimp boats and oyster boats just lined up when they should be harvesting seafood."

While there is a great need for back-to-school supplies in Houma, there are thousands of homeless children in Central Florida who cannot afford back-to-school supplies. To help meet this need, Northland's backpack drive will also benefit several local organizations:

• A Gift for Teaching, an organization that works within Seminole County Public Schools to provide kids and teachers with supplies throughout the entire year
• Christian HELP, which provides for the vocational, material and spiritual needs of those who are unemployed
• Harvest Time, a hunger and disaster relief organization meeting the needs of families

Backpacks are needed for grade school, middle school and high school students. Individuals may choose to fill a backpack with supplies, or just donate supplies or backpacks. Donations can be dropped off at Northland's Welcome Center in Longwood through Aug. 2.

ABOUT NORTHLAND

Northland, A Church Distributed (http://www.northlandchurch.net) is a pioneering congregation of 12,000 led by senior pastor Dr. Joel C. Hunter. Focused on building an international community of worshipers, the church connects thousands of believers worldwide, using live, interactive weekly worship streaming through the Web, Facebook, iPhone and other environments. Northland has several sites throughout Central Florida, as well many house churches and partner ministries around the globe.

This press release was issued through eReleases(R).  For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Northland, A Church Distributed