BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. (ABP) — Mark Griffo describes himself as “a spiritual person but not a religious person.” He probably never imagined he would find himself sweating in a poor Alabama hamlet, working with a bunch of Baptists to minister to desperately needy people.
Likewise, Norma and Pat Murray, Catholics from near Pensacola, Fla., didn't really plan to give up their Labor Day vacations to work with the same group of Baptists.
And it took a natural cataclysm to tear Tampa salesman Rob Rominger from watching his beloved Oklahoma Sooners on the opening Saturday of college football season.
But on Sept. 3 — just four days after Hurricane Katrina swamped the fishing village of Bayou La Batre, Ala. — all four were in the devastated town, working with a team of volunteers from the First Baptist Church of Pensacola.
The church is partnering with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a non-denominational volunteer agency to provide food, water, clothing, diapers and other necessities to local families that lost their homes, livelihoods or both.
Griffo, an Alabama native and Auburn University graduate, was in Greenville, N.C., when he heard news reports about the massive scope of Katrina's destruction. He was on the American leg of an aimless road trip that had already taken him backpacking around Europe. He decided he had to help.
“A 25-year-old, able-bodied male with no job but funds — I figured, 'Why not?'” Griffo said, explaining his decision to head for the first disaster-relief team he could find.
That team just happened to be starting in Pensacola, located about an hour's drive from Bayou La Batre.
Though much of the media attention in Katrina's wake has focused on the urban disaster in New Orleans and dramatic damage along the Mississippi coast, Bayou La Batre is also devastated. The town's already-distressed shrimping industry suffered what one volunteer coordinator said may be a “death-blow” when the storm's 12-foot surge put many of its boats out of commission.
In addition, as many as 1,700 people in the immediate area were left homeless by the storm.
“I don't want to sound pessimistic, but without some sort of government aid, I imagine the fishing industry here is pretty much wiped out,” said George Myers, a former Baptist pastor who is now associate director of the faith-based resource center for Volunteers of America Southeast.
The Mobile-based group is working in Bayou La Batre along with volunteers from the Alabama CBF and Florida CBF.
The groups' efforts were centered in the Bayou La Batre Child Development Center, a preschool run by Volunteers of America. The center, which itself was flooded in the storm, now serves as the town's only distribution center for disaster-relief staples, according to Alabama CBF officials.
Norma and Pat Murray decided to drop their plans for a weeklong biking vacation in the Appalachian Mountains in order to help those in need.
Pat Murray, who is a pediatrician, thought his skills might be needed. Norma Murray, who owns a chain of Pensacola restaurants that bear her name, checked out what local groups might be sending relief volunteers. One of her restaurants is located near the Pensacola church's landmark downtown campus. So it was an easy decision to join up with people she knew and appreciated.
“First Baptist people are some of my best customers,” she said. “Plus, I knew that they would be doing something quickly.” The Murrays are members of St. Ann's Catholic Church in nearby Gulf Breeze, Fla.
Asked why he and his wife gave up their vacations to help people they didn't know under the aegis of an organization to which they didn't belong, Pat Murray said the answer was easy: Just a year ago, Hurricane Ivan had turned their lives upside-down too.
“We were hit last year. They helped us,” he said. “We had to have food and water last year because we didn't have any. We lost half our house. We didn't have any food. So I know how these people feel.”
Greg Miller gave similar reasons for being in Bayou La Batre. He used to be a member of the Pensacola church and — despite a recent move to Atlanta — drove south to help the relief efforts. “We had people come help us during Ivan, so we thought we'd return the favor,” he said.
For Rominger, it took a sleepless night for him to decide that volunteering was more important than football.
After getting done with work Sept. 2, he said, “I realized I didn't have anything better to do this weekend.” So he called around to find disaster-relief efforts within his reach, and heard about the Pensacola team.
But he had also just purchased a pay-per-view TV package that would allow him to watch Oklahoma's season opener against Texas Christian University. After finding himself unable to sleep, Rominger packed a few clothes and left Tampa for Pensacola in the middle of the night, arriving in the morning.
He hadn't slept yet by the afternoon of Sept. 3. Instead, he joined the whirlwind of activity at the childcare center, carrying big boxes of donated supplies into the building, and loading supplies in the cars of storm victims.
“I've never really done anything like this before,” he said.
Perhaps God was doing him a favor: While he was handing out disaster supplies Sept. 3, he missed watching his beloved Sooners lose unexpectedly to the unranked TCU Horned Frogs, 17-10.
– Photos available from Associated Baptist Press