For many long-time Virginia Baptist disaster relief volunteers, the memories are clear — but the dates, places and events can be difficult to keep straight. Was it Hurricane Charlie in 2004 or Hugo in 1989 or Irene in 2011? Were we in Pulaski, Picayune or Puerto Rico?
Jim and Shirley Collins have a box in their closet packed with clothing and supplies they need if contacted by disaster relief leaders.
“When put on alert I pack the suitcase and Jim heads to the garage to grab the cots and sleeping bags and we’re ready,” said Shirley. And they’ve done it many times — along with approximately 3,000 other trained Virginia Baptist disaster relief volunteers.
Virginia Baptist disaster relief volunteers wrap up a meal served in Dinwiddie, Va., following Hurricane Irene in 2011.
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Since 1989 disaster relief volunteers have responded when called out to countless floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, ice storms, tornadoes and a tsunami. And they do it all for God.
“Sometimes people call us first responders and we’re very quick to correct that. We are early responders,” said Dean Miller, disaster relief and Virginia missions coordinator for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. “We go as soon as we’re called. And there are times when we go with a chain saw crew in front of our unit, cutting the unit in.”
Bill and Jackie Howell, members of Franklin (Va.) Baptist Church, have been involved in disaster relief since 2005. Their first call out was in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — a storm that devastated over 400 miles of the Gulf Coast.
Jackie serves as head cook for one of Virginia’s two mass feeding units. Her tasks include planning meals, deciding on quantities of food needed and ordering tractor trailer loads of supplies.
“Bill is my right-hand person who checks behind me. You can become so tired that you need someone to look over your decisions before placing large orders of food,” she said.
“Early responders often arrive to find no electricity, which means no air conditioning or heat and no running water,” said Howell. “Most times it’s extremely hot, but following Hurricane Sandy in West Virginia, it was extremely cold. The hours are long — often starting at 4 or 5 a.m.”
“This is the hardest work either of us has ever done, but it is also the most rewarding,” said Howell. “You fall in the bed late in the evening after the last worker has been fed and get back up and start over before the sun comes up.”
“When Franklin, Va., was flooded in 1999, people came to our aid,” said Bill. “We were moved to want to give back to others in crisis. It is also a good way to show faith to others.”
The Collinses, members of Branch’s Baptist Church in Richmond, were assigned to Picayune, Miss., about 50 miles from New Orleans, following Hurricane Katrina.
“We relieved the first response team,” said Jim, “and when we got there the feeding unit was still serving food without electricity.”
In the first six days of operation from First Baptist Church in Picayune, volunteers had already served at least 30,000 meals, provided emotional and spiritual support by trained crisis care chaplains to at least 6,000 evacuees and done clean up and clearing for about 90 homes.
The gold shirts and hats of disaster relief volunteers are a welcome sight in a crisis.
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In addition to the standard fare served by the feeding unit, Collins recalls preparing and serving soft shell crabs in Picayune donated by a restaurant owner whose freezer was down due to lack of electricity. He also remembers a deployment to Gum Pond, Miss., when a cornfield adjacent to a church was cleared to allow a helicopter to land with much needed food and water.
“The hurricane center is one of my favorites on the computer,” said Paul McDaniel, long-time volunteer and member of Lynn Haven Baptist Church in Vinton, Va. “I’m interested in what’s happening with the storms and my need to get ready.”
Trained in feeding, recovery and water purification, McDaniel is also a Virginia Baptist disaster relief assessor who travels to affected areas immediately following a crisis to work out logistics prior to the arrival of volunteers. He’s been to Chile, Grenada and other Caribbean locations. It was in Punta Gorda, Fla., after Hurricane Charlie that he recalls working alongside the largest number of responders.
“When people are hurting and need help, the need takes precedence over theology,” said McDaniel. He was an early responder to Bishop, W. Va., in 2009 following flooding there. “We worked with five or six other denominations for several months rebuilding 19 homes for low-income, retired coal miners — staying at a Seventh-Day Adventist Church camp.”
McDaniel said he was impressed with the work of the Mennonites during recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina, especially the women who worked all day doing mud out in their dresses.
Often disaster volunteers are housed in a local church. McDaniel recalls a trip to Buffalo, N.Y., following an early snowstorm. “We had 46 people sleeping in the fellowship hall of a church — that’s a lot of snoring in one place,” he said.
George Myers retired in 1999 after 36 years with AT&T. A member of Gordonsville (Va.) Baptist Church, he trained for the disaster relief feeding unit and has done recovery work, yet found his niche in communications.
When disasters strike, the immediate needs are obvious, said Myers, but services can be hindered by the lack of communication. He remembers the deployment to New York following Hurricane Sandy as one of the most challenging.
“Even though disaster relief efforts were located in a park on Long Island and New York City was within sight, there was no cell phone reception,” he said.
The communications unit is housed in a converted recreational vehicle. Through the use of a cell phone repeater, tall antennas and strategic positioning, communication was restored and the unit became the command center for the Virginia Baptist response team.
“When you do the Lord’s work by helping people, it’s very rewarding,” said Myers. “Everyone sees the yellow shirts and trucks and they know who we are and why we are there,” he said.
He recalls waiting outside a Walmart in Gibbon, W.Va., following a call out due to flash floods in the area. As he sat on the tailgate of a truck, a local resident passed, slapped him on the knee and quietly said, “Thanks.” That makes you feel like what you are doing is really appreciated, he said.
“The people wearing the gold shirts and hats are the worker bees. They are the ones that really make it happen,” said Miller. “Volunteers are exactly that. They don’t get paid. They show up on the job site on their own and sacrifice quite a bit to be there.”
“There are times when people are desperate for help,” said Collier. “My wife and I have two reasonably good hands and feet and have decided this is what God has called us to do. Once you make that first response — you’re hooked.”
Barbara Francis ([email protected]) is on the staff of the Religious Herald.