GREENVILLE, Kentucky - On any given Sunday, about 500 members file into the church sanctuary of Second Baptist Church for morning services.

This past Sunday, however, their sanctuary was filled with cots and several hundred residents seeking refuge from the cold.

Last week, a massive winter storm pushed across Missouri, Kentucky and other states, dumping snow and freezing rain. More than 400,000 residents are still without power.

The church opened their doors to serve as a shelter, housing 600 hundred residents during the past week and providing 3 meals a day – for a total of 4,000 meals.

Operation Blessing stepped in to help as well, securing a 250-gallon propane tank to give shelter residents their first hot shower since the storm hit. Additional heaters were purchased to help warm the sanctuary as well as paper products and a deep freezer to support the church’s feeding operations.

An Operation Blessing truck arrives to Muhlenberg County's Emergency Operations Center with nearly 18,000 pounds of food and disaster relief supplies for distribution to residents.

“As of Saturday, they were still housing 171 people,” said Jody Herrington, OBI’s U.S. director of disaster relief. “The church did not have the finances for supplies so this was a huge blessing to them.”

OBI also dispatched a Hunger Strike Force truck from their Virginia-based warehouse to the Muhlenberg County Emergency Operations Center, filled with nearly 18,000 pounds of disaster relief supplies that included 3,108 blankets, 3,500 bottles of water and 1,750 meals-ready-to-eat.

Late last week, OBI teams distributed $10,000 worth of heaters and fuel cans to residents without power after receiving a request for help from emergency management.

“Many were able to go to emergency shelters, but there were others – primarily farmers and elderly residents – who were afraid to leave their properties and stayed behind to care for their farms and livestock,” Herrington said.

“By being able to respond so quickly to the need – within 24 hours of getting the request – we were truly able to bring relief in real time and help these disaster victims,” she added.

In Caruthersville, Missouri, OBI’s partnering ministry, Day of Hope, continues to provide food and aid to affected residents.

Day of Hope, which receives monthly truckloads of food and relief from Operation Blessing’s Hunger Strike Force, is distributing more than 39,000 pounds of OB-delivered product such as tea, soup, diapers, and other aid to storm victims at city-wide “warming stations.”

“Over the last 24 hours, warming stations have provided hot meals to 1,415 people,” said Karen Hartung, director of Day of Hope Ministries. “About 60-75 percent of the food and aid being used by these shelters came from OBI via Day of Hope.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

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