WASHINGTON - November 21 - After weeks of leading relief efforts in his hometown of Monroe, Louisiana, the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith Alliance Foundation, led an interfaith group of religious leaders from across the country to Baton Rouge last month to investigate the effectiveness of government relief efforts and to report on what was still needed to help those without jobs, homes, and adequate food and clothing.

Meeting with evacuees and volunteers, the delegation discovered:

• Religious organizations doing all they can, but stretched beyond their capacity;
• Overwhelmed local officials not receiving the money promised by the administration and appropriated by Congress;
• The federal government failing in its responsibility to help people most in need;
• Religion being used by the administration as a political tool;
• The so-called faith-based initiative continuing to be a sham; and
• An inept, incestuous relationship between FEMA and the Red Cross.

Evacuees asked the delegation to promise one thing: return to Washington and tell their stories.

WHAT:. Capitol Hill briefing with video and written report of the Interfaith Delegation's discoveries in Baton Rouge; . Question-and-answer period following video and brief statements; . Copies of the written report and the video will be available.

WHEN:. Tuesday, November 29 . 10:30 a.m. EST

WHERE:. Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. SD-G50 (ground floor)

WHO:

• The Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, President, The Interfaith Alliance Foundation, Host and Moderator
• The Rev. Jennifer Jones-Bridgett, Executive Director, Working Interfaith Network/PICO, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Melissa Flournoy, President, Louisiana Association of Non-Profit Organizations
• Irma Plummer, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer City-Parish Government, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Rabbi David Gelfand, Jewish Center of The Hamptons
• Rev. J. Brent Walker, Executive Director, The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (www.bjcpa.org)

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