Presbyterians build and donate organ to Orleans

This is a great story on two levels. One is the wonderful charity of people who put so much time, work, love and funding into giving a church in need a one of a kind organ (Presbytarian to Catholic, by the way). The second great thing about this story is the calling that the organ fans, or "maniacs" as they call themselves, have to this historic and spiritual musical instrument.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/seattle_church_builds_donates.html

snip

In yet another post-Katrina kindness to New Orleans, the organ was a gift to the people of Blessed Seelos Parish from strangers around Seattle.
Built by hand in a garage-loft by amateur enthusiasts, it was tested there, then disassembled into thousands of pieces, hauled to New Orleans, spread across the church floor, and reassembled by 15 Seattle volunteers in Seelos' loft.
Its value if new: something like $220,000, according to Carl Dodrill, the pipe organ enthusiast who led the effort.
Its cost to Seelos: about $20,000, the church's share of preparing its loft to receive the gift, parish officials said.
Like so much other recent private generosity in New Orleans, the story of the Seelos organ has its roots in Hurricane Katrina.
In early 2006, rebuilding teams from four Seattle area Presbyterian churches targeted Seelos, home parish to a small, diverse Bywater congregation of Spanish- and English-speaking Catholics, as well as the center for deaf worship in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

My favorite two funny comments in this article:

"It's a ministry," said Dodrill, by which he means something more ennobling than restoring old cars.

"These aren't organ fanatics. They're organ maniacs," Benson confided later.