RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Baptists will have at least two opportunities in February to provide hands-on assistance to the victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake.
The Virginia Baptist Mission Board is coordinating the packaging of more than 140,000 meals for Haitians Feb. 5-6 through Stop Hunger Now, an international hunger relief organization.
Virginia Baptists participated in a Stop Hunger Now project last November during the annual BGAV meeting. They will have another opportunity in February, this time to assist Haitians. (Photo by Alice Rusher)
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Later, during the week of Feb. 15-19, the board will collect medical supplies to be transported to Haiti and distributed through its partners in the Caribbean nation.
“After such a tragedy, many of us are overcome with a strong desire to help in any way possible,” said Dean Miller, who is coordinating the efforts for the board. “To this point, prayer and financial donations have been the most necessary and beneficial mode of assistance. Those continue to be needed and valuable.”
But, he added, “these opportunities are a tangible way for Virginia Baptists and their congregations to engage locally in a ministry that will have global impact.”
The Stop Hunger Now project is undertaken in cooperation with Methodists in the Richmond area, said Miller. Virginia Baptists have been asked to provide between 40 and 50 volunteers for each of six packaging periods at the Stop Hunger Now warehouse at 5022 Byrd Industrial Dr. in Richmond.
“Virginia Baptists have partnered with SHN on many occasions, most recently at the annual Baptist General Association of Virginia meeting last November,” said Miller. “They have a reliable partner on the ground in Haiti and have sent more than six million meals there over the past several years.”
Miller said advance registration for a specific time period is necessary. The time slots are:
Friday, Feb. 5: 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.; 8 p.m.-10 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 6: 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.; 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.; 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Registration may be made through the board’s Jeannette Hildebrand at 800.255.2428, ext. 7260, or at [email protected].
Miller said similar events are planned in other regions of the state as funds become available.
Medical supplies will be distributed through Virginia Baptists’ mission partners, including the Baptist World Alliance, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, said Miller. They will be used both by volunteers currently working in Haiti and by Virginia Baptist teams that may travel to the country in the near future.
“We hope Virginia Baptists will collect the supplies over the next few weeks and then deliver them to the Virginia Baptist Resource Center during the week of Feb. 15-19,” said Miller. On Saturday, Feb. 20, supplies will be loaded on a truck, which will transport them to the partners for distribution.
A list of approved medical items and delivery instructions is available here.