Hurricane Ivan hit Atmore, Alabama on September 16th with a vengeance.
Julia’s house suffered roof damage and there’s a tree limb still
in her living room. In the midst of her dilemma, this courageous and compassionate
woman has been heading up First Baptist Church’s amazing hurricane
relief effort in the four-stop-light town of 8,000.
Ninety percent of the roofs in Atmore are damaged. On top of the hurricane,
force winds and rain, Ivan generated over 100 tornados that snipped off
treetops and roofs. In the aftermath, it’s common for three families
to be crammed into one house or to see families living under tarp tents
next to what’s left of their homes. Cars have also been flooded
leaving this timberland and farming community trapped and in want.
Compassion in Action
As the administrative assistant of a church that currently has no senior
pastor, Julia took charge by coordinating a 50 member Southern Baptist
disaster relief team and 20 Red Cross volunteers who came in and began
feeding the entire town twice a day. Forty-eight hours after Ivan blew
through, they had already served 15,300 meals in the church’s parking
lot next to the toppled 80-foot steeple.
Rich Danzeisen, Operation Blessing’s assistant director of outreach,
was also on the scene within days of Ivan’s wrath. Upon seeing the
damage, OBI quickly gave them a grant for emergency groceries, hygiene
items, debris removal equipment and dry-in construction projects.
“We weren’t prepared for the outpouring of love and assistance
that we’ve received,” shared Julia.
Meeting Special Needs
Lisa is one of the many people who came to First Baptist looking for help.
She had just lost her job when a store moved out of town. Then Hurricane
Ivan literally washed away her house. Lisa suffers with severe asthma
and her breathing machine was lost beneath the rest of the flooded mess.
Already waiting for a disability check, she didn’t have money to
buy food let alone a new machine! When Julia presented her with the new
lifesaving equipment, Lisa broke down in thankful tears.
Rebuilding
Almost everyone in Atmore will have their power back on by Friday, allowing
First Baptist to close their feeding center. Julia’s next step is
to evaluate and meet her neighbors’ specific and immediate needs.
The church’s daycare also opened this week, giving a few little
ones a sense of normalcy. “We’re a little farming community
that didn’t have much to begin with,” said Julia. “Single
parent families were working two jobs. We’re going to be a little
more bare than normal.”
Many farmhands don’t know what to do. Their harvesting jobs have
been delayed or washed away with the storm. Single mothers and other women
had businesses cleaning beach condos 70 miles south. The hurricane damaged
or destroyed many of those condos, leaving all of them without jobs.
Join us in Relief Efforts
As victims pick up the remaining pieces of their lives, Operation Blessing
is there to assist them. With the help of partners like you, Operation
Blessing has delivered 134 truckloads of food, water, emergency equipment
and relief supplies in support of hurricane relief efforts. As of September
29th, we have made cash grants of $905,930 to 45 faith-based organizations
in areas including AL, FL, Cuba, Grenada, Jamaica, the Bahamas and the
Cayman Islands. We can help more people in their time of crisis with your
help.
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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