Local churches unite to provide 'Buckets of Love' Two congregations collect flood cleanup supplies BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer The Revs. Dean Brown, of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, and Terrence Rosheuvel, of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, prepare buckets of love with church member Joan McFarland. RED BANK - The borough's Independence Day celebration this year presented a fundraising opportunity for a pair of Red Bank churches that are collaborating to help flood victims. Church members raised $125 to kick off a joint outreach program called Buckets of Love. The congregations of St. Thomas Episcopal Church and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church joined forces at the end of June to aid in flood relief efforts nationally. The collection effort started on July 3, as passersby flocked past Holy Trinity on River Road to attend "KaBoom! Fireworks on the Navesink," and were asked to donate to the Buckets of Love program. Inspired by Hurricane Katrina and the lack of readiness during the aftermath, the two churches are assembling emergency cleanup buckets, or flood buckets, according to the Rev. Dean Brown, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on River Road. A sample flood bucket sits in the lobby of both St. Thomas Episcopal and Holy Trinity Lutheran churches. "It's very easy when things like Katrina go off the airwaves and people still have problems two years later," said the Rev. Terrence Rosheuvel, pastor of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, E. Sunset Avenue. "It's just a joy to be working with another congregation on something so important." The emergency cleanup idea was sparked when the congregations met on Tuesdays during the past season of Lent to learn about the other's social outreach programs and found that both share disaster relief outreach, according to a press release. "We are in the creating-awareness stage," said Brown. [We are trying to] "help people get their feet back on the ground." Brown and Rosheuvel are now spreading word of the project to congregation and community members, looking for their support and donations. "This is an appeal to our churches and the community to make contributions that will be used to purchase the items that make up these disaster relief cleanup buckets," they wrote in a press release. The buckets cost anywhere from $50 to $55 to assemble. This figure includes the 25-pound, five-gallon bucket, scouring pads, disinfectant, detergent, clothesline, dust masks and other specific items. The items needed to assemble the buckets are inspected before being warehoused. The goal is to assemble at least 50 buckets by the end of September, according to Brown. "The items have very exact specifications, so we are asking for financial donations instead so we can buy what's needed instead of having people bring stuff we can't use," said Rosheuvel. After the buckets are assembled, which takes around 30 minutes, and inspected, they will be warehoused at a facility run by Church World Service and then distributed nationally as needed. "This is the kind of thing that makes you feel really good," said Brown. "It is also really wonderful to see how you start doing something small and see it growing into something you hadn't anticipated." Donations can be made to Buckets of Love, 150 River Road, Red Bank 07701, or by contacting Brown at (732) 741-9241 or Rosheuvel at (732) 747-1039.