Mayor Sarno Announces Outreach and Support Continues Towards Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church Rebuild

Mayor Sarno states, “As my administration did with working with Bishop Bryant Robinson of Macedonia Church of God in Christ, and all our local, state, federal and private partners back in November 2008, we will do again with Pastor Reverend Dr. Terrlyn Curry Avery of MLK church to not only catch and prosecute the culprit, but just as important, help them rebuild.  Again, I’d like to thank Springfield Fire Department Commissioner BJ Calvi and his brave and dedicated firefighters, who did a tremendous job in saving the building and religious artifacts.  Having been on site to view the situation and in numerous contacts with Rev. Dr. Avery, I am happy to announce and not surprised by the heartwarming outreach and support I have received for our Martin Luther King Jr. Presbyterian Church – ‘Springfield will once again show it is a caring city’.  I’d like to thank Bishop William Byrne for his offer of space, Paul Beturne of Dimauro Carpet and Tile company for his offer of carpet and flooring, and Payton Shubrick of 6Bricks for her assistance offer too.  As I stated to Rev. Dr. Avery, even though this was a tragic event, ‘from these ashes a phoenix will rise again’.  Again to our most generous business and philanthropic Springfield community, if you can assist please contact my office at (413) 787-6100 and/or my Administrative Assistant Carolyn Jackson at cjackson@springfieldcityhall.com and my Chief of Staff Tom Ashe at tashe@springfieldcityhall.com”