Volunteer Info

On behalf of St. Paul's congregation, Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), and the Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina, we extend a sincere "Thank You" for your service to our neighbors in need.

Local contact phone numbers are:

Pastor Kazanjian:	251-401-4247
John Centamore:	251-604-9417
LDR Office at Bayou La Batre:	251-824-7026
LDR Office at Bayley's Corner:	251-973-0951

The church has few rules

We know that, as guests in our church home, you will make it your home away from home.

• Please smoke only in the parking lot and dispose of the butts appropriately.
• We ask that food and drink be confined to the fellowship hall and kitchen areas. Clean up after meals and lunch preparation. Clean up any spills immediately.
• Please feel free to use the sanctuary for prayer, meditation, or group worship services, as the Lord calls you. The parlor is available for reading, meditation, or TV viewing.
• Please observe quiet hours after 9:00 p.m. Limit outside noise in deference to our neighbors.
• You may use the church phone for local calls, but please use calling cards or cell phones for long distance calling.
• We do expect that your group be responsible for cleaning up after themselves. We recommend assigning daily chores to members of your group.
• Keys to the church will be provided to team leaders. Please be sure the church is locked at night and when you leave for your daily activities. Upon departure, leave all church keys on the kitchen counter.

General Information

An information table is located in the Fellowship Hall, where you will find local maps, phonebook, Mobile Bay Visitors' Guide, the most recent St. Paul's bulletin, LDR publications, and other information to help you during your stay.

Wireless internet is available. We do not broadcast the SSID, therefore you must manually enter a new SSID of SPLCMA, with encryption disabled. The router is located near the narthex, so the signal may be weak in the fellowship hall.

Devotional Materials: Copies of the LDR devotional manual for disaster volunteers, Meeting God in the Ruins are available on the information table. Please let us know if you need assistance in planning devotions for the group during your stay.

Forget something? In the hallway, one closet is labeled Paper Goods. In this closet, you may also find soap and other toiletries, first aid kits and supplies, and over the counter medications.

Food and Meal Arrangements

St. Paul's is happy to provide food, snacks, and facilities for your use during your stay.

If anyone in your group has special dietary needs (vegetarian, food allergies, etc) please inform us as soon after your arrival as possible.

There are usually cereals, juices, eggs, bacon, bread, pancake mixes, waffles, milk, and coffee for breakfasts. Please leave enough time after breakfast to prepare your lunches and clean up the kitchen and dining area before leaving for the day.

There are sandwich fixings so you can make your lunch to bring to the job sites daily. We also will try to provide fruit, munchies, and drinks to round out your lunches.

For dinners, St. Paul's hosts several meals. Depending on circumstances and the length of your stay, these could include pizza, fried chicken, barbeque, spaghetti, etc. We also go to the Original Oyster House (Dutch treat) as a group, if time permits.

NOTE: Please notify John Centamore or Pastor Kazanjian if your group will not be joining us for dinner, so that plans can be adjusted accordingly.

Food for the other nights is available in the kitchen and pantry or you can eat out on your own. If more than one group is visiting at a time, please work out cooking arrangements between the groups if you choose to cook at the church.

If you choose to eat out, there are several very good restaurants near St. Paul's. Check the phone book or the Mobile Bay visitors' guide and ask for directions if needed.

Please use the kitchen to meet your needs. Anything in the refrigerator/freezer or pantry is for your use.

Let us know if we need to replace or acquire certain items. Use the white board outside the kitchen for this info (or other messages). We will try to meet your needs as soon as we can.

The kitchen should be picked up before you depart daily, after meals, and at the end of your stay.

We suggest you use paper/plastic when possible. If regular dishes are needed, wash them immediately after use and return them to their proper locations. We have recently installed a new dishwasher; please ask for operating instructions prior to using it.

Shower and Restrooms

There are only three showers in the church. We remind you to lock the door to the shower rooms when they are in use. The other restrooms are designated Men/Women and do not lock. Three showers will not accommodate a large group of visitors, so we have made arrangements with the Mobile YMCA to allow our volunteers to use their shower facilities. They also provide towels. Directions to the Y are attached.

Feel free to use the washer/dryer but be sure to leave the exhaust fan on while the dryer is in use.

Members of your group should clean all of the restrooms daily and before your departure.

Sleeping Arrangements

Air Mattresses are located in Room #8. There are approximately (35) twin air mattresses (blue); (8) elevated twin air mattresses (gray), (3) elevated queen size air mattresses (gray). There are plenty of AC blowers to inflate/deflate the mattresses. There are also a few blankets and pillows in Room #8 in case you did not bring your own.

In order of priority of use, the elevated queen mattresses are for use by married couples only. Rooms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in the education wing are for couples, if needed. Once all the couple requirements are met, these rooms are to be used by others. The double high twin mattresses are for the use of older volunteers or those who would have difficulty with the 7" high blue mattresses. The blue mattresses should meet the need of most people.

We suggest that female volunteers occupy rooms in the following order:

1. The two nursery rooms (which can comfortably accommodate up to seven people between the two rooms)
2. Education wing rooms not already in use

Male volunteers should then use any remaining rooms (except 7, 8, and the office areas) and the fellowship hall.

In an overflow situation, the choir room can be used for sleeping, but it needs to be vacated on Wednesday evening for choir practice between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. In a massive overflow, the sanctuary can be used for sleeping as well.

The choir room and the two nursery rooms (in addition to the parlor and sanctuary) are used on Sunday morning, so if you are staying through Sunday, those rooms need to be vacated as well.

Directions to the YMCA for showers:

• Turn left out of the church parking lot.
• At the 4th traffic light, turn left on Azalea Road.
• At 2nd light, turn right on Michael Blvd.
• At first light, turn left on Downtowner Blvd.
• YMCA is on the right about 1/4 mile.
• At the front desk, tell them you are volunteers from St. Paul's and wish to use showers. They will provide towels at no charge.

Directions to the LDR office in Bayou La Batre:

• Turn right out of the church parking lot.
• At the fifth traffic light, turn left on Leroy Stevens.
• Stay on Leroy Stevens until it tees at a stop sign. Turn left on Gold Mine Road.
• Stay on Gold Mine Road – the name will change to McDonald Road - until it ends at US 90. Merge right.
• Get in left lane immediately. Turn left at the first light onto Irvington-Bayou La Batre Road.
• Stay on this road. At the next stop light, there is a BP station on the left. Go about 1/2 mile further.
• Turn right into Greer Food Tiger Shopping Center. The LDR office is on the right end of the strip mall. There are signs on the building for LDR and Camp Noah.

Directions to the LDR office in Bayley's Corner:

• Turn left out of the church parking lot.
• Turn right at the first traffic light onto Knollwood Drive.
• Turn right (merge) at the next stop light onto Government Blvd/Route 90.
• At the second stop light, turn left on Rangeline Road.
• Follow Rangeline Road across Interstate 10 for approximately 8 miles until it ends at a tee intersection.
• Turn left at the tee onto Laurendine Road.
• Follow Laurendine Road to a four-way stop sign at Dauphin Island Parkway.
• Turn right on Dauphin Island Parkway.
• Stay on Dauphin Island Parkway approximately 2.5 miles until you reach the Bayley's Corner community (including a Greer's Food Tiger, Dollar General, and Family Dollar).
• Cross Fowl River Road, then turn right into the American Legion parking lot.
• Follow the LDR signs around the right side of the American Legion building, and follow the drive to the campground behind the buildings.
• The LDR office is the mobile office building located at the campground.

Directions to China Town Restaurant:

• Turn left out of the church parking lot.
• Turn right at the first traffic light onto Knollwood Drive.
• Turn right (merge) at the next stop light onto Government Blvd/Route 90.
• Just prior to the next traffic light, turn left. There is a left turn lane into the restaurant parking lot.

Directions to Pizza Hut:

• Turn left out of the church parking lot.
• Turn left at the second stoplight onto University.
• Turn left at the next stoplight into the Pizza Hut parking lot.

Directions to Original Oyster House:

• Turn left out of the church parking lot.
• Turn right at the first traffic light onto Knollwood Drive.
• Turn right (merge) at the next stop light onto Government Blvd/Route 90.
• At the second stop light, turn left on Rangeline Road.
• Follow signs for Interstate 10 Eastbound (on right).
• Follow Interstate 10 to downtown Mobile. Go through the tunnel under Mobile River.
• Stay in the right hand lane.
• Exit to the right immediately at the end of the tunnel at the Battleship Park exit.
• Continue east on the causeway (Route 90). The restaurant is 3.1 miles past USS Alabama Battleship Park.
• Turn left into the Original Oyster House parking lot.

Directions to Walmart:

• Turn left out of the church parking lot.
• Turn right at the first traffic light onto Knollwood Drive.
• Turn right (merge) at the next stop light onto Government Blvd/Route 90.
• At the second stop light, turn left on Rangeline Road.
• Turn right at the next stoplight, then left onto the service road to enter the Walmart shopping center.

Departure Checklist

• Please DO NOT DEFLATE air mattresses, except those used in the choir room. Stack inflated mattresses in classrooms in the education wing. Return deflated mattresses to Room #8 only.
• Return air pumps to Room #8 and any other items to their original location.
• Please sweep classroom and hallway floors and vacuum the fellowship hall.
• Clean kitchen and restrooms, including mopping those floors.
• Take out all trash and put in new can liners.
• Police the building and parking lot for trash or cigarette butts.
• Double check the building for personal belongings.
  (If you later find you have left something behind, please call the church office and we will arrange to get your belongings to you.)
• Turn out all lights and lock the doors, remembering to leave the church keys on the kitchen counter.

6100 Cottage Hill Road | Mobile, Alabama 36609 (See Map)
251-661-2929 | Fax 251-661-1988 | stpauls@stpaulsmobile.org