BOURNE, Mass. (AP) – Hundreds of relief workers prepared to welcome the first wave of an expected 2,500 refugees from Hurricane Katrina to a temporary home at Camp Edwards on Cape Cod Tuesday, but state officials said their arrival was postponed.

Patrick Bradley, undersecretary of the state Department of Public Safety, said state officials were told flights from the Gulf Coast would resume this morning, and the earliest any could arrive here would be midday

Earlier Tuesday, Gov. Mitt Romney and legislative leaders announced the state would put up $25 million for the refugee assistance, which Romney said should be reimbursed by the federal government. Romney signed the emergency spending bill in the afternoon.

“These people need help. They need help right away, and we’re willing to give it to them,” said House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, D-Boston.

Inside a jet hangar at Otis Air National Guard base near Camp Edwards, a massive multi-agency operation of state, federal and private relief agencies stood ready to welcome the hurricane survivors. They were prepared for everything from medical evaluations to issuing Social Security checks.

More volunteers were at a processing center at the Barnstable County Jail complex, where they were being matched with support jobs.

Kyra and Bill Davis, a husband and wife from Yarmouthport, both retired, said it was important for them to help.

“We could be in the same boat here on Cape Cod. We just need to show them some northern hospitality,” Kyra Davis said.

“You have to do it. It’s an emotional thing,” said Bill Davis. “You gotta help Americans. We’re helping everybody else, help our own people.”

Canadian visitor Earla Ford, from Edmonton, Alberta, said, “I want to be there for the little kids.”

The refugees will be housed in brick, dormitory-style barracks at Edwards that usually house National Guard soldiers, including some who have headed south to help with hurricane relief. There are two twin bunk beds in each room. Three mess halls at the base can serve up to 800 people apiece, and it has other facilities.

Romney announced that the Rev. Jeff Brown, pastor of the Union Baptist Church in Cambridge, will serve as an unofficial “mayor” for the Camp Edwards facility, to be a liaision to the refugees and help coordinate the government response.

The governor appeared on Tuesday at the Statehouse with several black church leaders to highlight faith-based efforts to adopt refugee families and support them as they relocate.

“These people have lost everything, but not their faith and their families, and we want to support them as communities of faith across the commonwealth,” Romney said.

The governor said that corporations are starting to give, with CVS pledging toiletries, a caterer volunteering a barbeque for all 2,500 refugees and the managing partner of the Boston Celtics, Wyc Grousbeck, telling him in a conversation when they crossed paths at a traffic intersection that the team not only planned to make a sizable cash contribution to the relief effort, but a donation of shoes and t-shirts.

The church leaders, including the Rev. Ray Hammond of the Ten-Point Coalition and Bishop Gilbert Thompson of the Black Ministerial Alliance, said they have already held several organizational meetings and planned more as the week progressed.

In addition, they are planning church services at Camp Edwards over the weekend and invitations for refugees to attend services at their local churches.

“We will all be working together to reach out to other faith communities, encouraging our members to volunteer through the Massachusetts Red Cross and the Salvation Army,” Thompson said.

Hammond and Thompson also announced plans for an ecumenical prayer service at 12:15 p.m. Thursday at Trinity Church in Copley Square.

Romney, who last week said that the initial response to Katrina had been “undermanaged” and an “embarrassment,” has worked overtime to ensure that Massachusetts offered a model response in its efforts. He held two news conferences over the Labor Day holiday weekend to review state plans for refugees.

The governor said the 2,500 refugees were directed to Massachusetts after the state said that was the number it felt it could handle comfortably. He said if asked, the state would open is arms to additional refugees, but Camp Edwards was immediately ready to handle that number.

Their arrival could mean the influx of hundreds of new students into school districts in Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee and Sandwich. The legislative leaders said Tuesday that the Legislature would likely have to waive state educational laws and enroll students without the required paperwork or vaccinations.

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AP political writer Glen Johnson in Boston contributed to this report.

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