Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called to thank Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers, including those from South Carolina, who have served since Hurricane Isaac hit the southeast Louisiana coast.
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers work to prepare meals at Celebration Church’s River Parishes campus in Laplace, La. From left, Cheryl Terry and Joe Swendson, of First Baptist Church, Lindale, Texas, and Mary Green, a member of First Baptist Church, Mount Enterprise, Texas, serve with a Texas Baptist Men SBDR feeding unit.On Sept. 6, Napolitano personally expressed gratitude to North American Mission Board president Kevin Ezell.
“She called to say how much she appreciates everything Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are doing and to acknowledge that our efforts are a key part of the response,” Ezell said. “The investment Southern Baptists have made in disaster relief over the years has helped us become a key partner in times of crisis. I am grateful for all of our partners who make this happen. We know that many needs will be met, and that ultimately many lives will be impacted with the gospel.”
SBDR feeding teams have cooked and delivered tens of thousands of meals at field kitchens in Baton Rouge, Kenner, Covington, Houma, Westwego, Belle Chasse and Slidell, La., and in Long Beach and Pascagoula, Miss.
Feeding units deployed to date have come from Louisiana, Texas (Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and Texas Baptist Men), Arkansas, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer Donna Swarts of Magee, Miss., greets Juliet and Mark Honore of Chalmette, La., at a FEMA disaster aid application center in Chalmette. In response to a FEMA request, SBDR is providing childcare volunteers at five FEMA application centers around New Orleans in response to Hurricane Isaac. Swarts is a member of Goodwater Baptist Church.In addition to feeding operations, DR volunteers representing state conventions are deployed in Louisiana, including groups from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas (SBTC and Texas Baptist Men), and Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia.
Volunteers are busy assessing damages; doing mud-out, chainsaw and other recovery jobs; providing childcare for victims; providing shower and laundry units; chaplaincy and power generation.
A South Carolina team is serving at the ARC incident command in Baton Rouge. TBM, led by TBM state disaster relief director Terry Henderson, is staffing NAMB’s incident command center at First Baptist Church, Covington, La. A second NAMB incident command center is based at Lake Forest Baptist Church in New Orleans. – NAMB