RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Two churches in the Richmond, Va., area are offering showers, laundry facilities and ice to thousands in the city still without electricity in the wake of Hurricane Irene.
First Baptist Church of Richmond and Bon Air Baptist Church are making the services available to neighbors and members still in the dark after the storm swept through central Virginia Aug. 27.
“Because so many of our members, friends and neighbors are still without electricity, Richmond’s First Baptist Church is opening its doors to our shower ministry, our ice machine and our walk-in refrigerator and freezer (for temporary storage of your food items),” the church, located near the central business district, wrote in an e-mail. “If you need any of these services, just come on down to the church building anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. now through Friday.”
On the Facebook page of Bon Air, which has three campuses in Richmond’s Southside, administrator Steve Law posted, “The Buford Road campus has power, free high-speed WiFi, ice (as long as it lasts), two sets of washer/dryers and air conditioning. If you need to charge your phone batteries, need to access your e-mail, want to wash your clothes, get a bag of ice or just sit in the cool, come to the church’s café.”
First Baptist is located at 2709 Monument Ave.; Bon Air’s original campus is located at 2531 Buford Rd.
On Aug. 30, about 230,000 Dominion Virginia Power customers — about 45 percent of its total — remained without power in the Richmond region, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Immediately after the hurricane almost 85 percent of customers had lost electricity. Dominion predicted it would have all power restored by Sept. 3.
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Robert Dilday is managing editor of the Religious Herald.