By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Faith groups around the area are collecting money and donations for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Nationwide, religious groups are collecting money and sending disaster response teams to the devastated region. Baptists are filling tractor-trailers with items to give away. The Orthodox Christian Church is handing out toiletry kits. Catholics are making lists of people who are willing to accept refugees. And Jewish groups are trying to connect with Jews lost on the devastation.

In most cases, special collections are driving the work.

Last weekend, Temple Shalom Synagogue collected for United Jewish Communities, Rabbi Hillel Katzir said. The money will be used to help other Jews, he said. However, that’s only one effort at the Auburn synagogue. Members are also encouraged to give money to secular groups, including the Red Cross.

Many people, whatever their faith, need help, Katzir said.

At the Court Street Baptist Church in Auburn, money was collected on Sunday and sent to American Baptist Churches, USA, a national Baptist group that owns 20 tractor-trailers which it fills for transport to disasters.

The United Methodist Church of Auburn collected money on Sunday and more this week for its charity, the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

At the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Lewiston, a portion of the proceeds from this weekend’s Lewiston-Auburn Greek Festival has been earmarked for International Orthodox Christian Charities. They, too, have had special collections. By last Saturday, the Rev. Ted Toppses had sent out e-mails to the members of the local church, asking people to give to the religious charity.

The local church is also gathering what it describes as Gift of the Heart health kits.

Kits include gallon-sized Ziploc bags, washcloths, combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, Band-Aids, nail clippers and bars of soap.

Such collections won’t end soon.

Catholics, Maine’s largest faith group, are planning a collaborative collection for Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17 and 18. Every Catholic church in Maine, all 135 parishes, plan to raise cash. Meanwhile, they are collecting the names of people who are willing to host refugees. Already, more than 35 Maine families have offered, a church spokeswoman said.

“People from every faith feel a brotherhood with those who are suffering in Louisiana, Mississippi and the other states devastated by Hurricane Katrina,” Bishop Joseph Malone said in a prepared statement. “The generosity of the Catholic people has always been an inspiration.”