Supplies gathered in a recent disaster relief drive were taken to two different areas affected by Hurricane Helene.
The week before Thanksgiving, a team of 10 from Jasper Methodist Church transported items donated to the Valdosta, Georgia area. Contact with Lowndes County Emergency Management Agency provided information of where the supplies could best be used, and connection was made with two distribution sites in Valdosta per their recommendation. The team of ten then spent the week working to assist eight families affected by the hurricane. The families included four single senior ladies, one single gentleman with health issues, one family with autistic children, and two homes that were in danger of further damage due to damaged trees and debris. Lodging for the team was provided by Camp Tygart, a United Methodist church camp and job assignments were coordinated by Inspiritus, a Lutheran affiliated social ministry based in Atlanta. Meals were provided by Rothrock Foundation out of Middletown, Pennsylvania, in coordination with Inspiritus. Inspiritus operations for the area were based at Camp Tygart. Partnerships such as these along with communication, cooperation, coordination, and collaboration among such organizations are the norm in disaster response.
The week after Thanksgiving, the remainder of the supplies were transported to the Burnsville, North Carolina area. Social media allowed contact with someone who had compiled a list of all supply distribution sites in the area. A spreadsheet was provided, contacts were made and supplies were unloaded at three different locations based on the needs in those areas. One drop was made in Green Mountain, just north of Burnsville, one at Spruce Pine, just east of Burnsville, and one on the outskirts of Burnsville.
Funds raised during the drive were used to purchase supplies and equipment (roof tarps, additional tools, etc.) needed in the area and any remaining will be sent to contacts made in the affected areas to continue relief and recovery work and assist individuals and families affected.
Many thanks to those of Boone and Newton counties who contributed supplies, to Katherine Nance for coordinating the drive, to the fire departments in Harrison and Jasper for being drop sites, to the volunteers from Jasper Methodist Church and the community for sorting and packing, etc., to Jasper Methodist Church for helping to sponsor the team to Valdosta, to the response team from Louisiana who let folks from Jasper bunk with them one night in Burnsville and to anyone else I may have overlooked in this moment. Thank you all!
For more pictures of the trips to Valdosta, Georgia and Burnsville, North Carolina, go to our Facebook page at Jasper AR Methodist Church.
