Editor’s Note: This story was modified Oct. 4 to include additional content regarding storm damage in Florida.
Even as Floridians and Texans begin the arduous process of digging out from major hurricanes, South Carolina Baptists continue to help Palmetto State residents rebuild after the state’s own record-setting floods of two years ago.
RebuildSC, a construction ministry effort born after widespread flooding in October 2015, is still at work and has shifted its focus from the Lower Pee Dee area to the Marion County area. Volunteers are needed to keep the work going.
The 2015 floods resulted from a stalled frontal system off the coast that led to heavy rains in the eastern portion of the state. From Oct. 1-4, more than 24 inches of rain fell on the Midlands and Pee Dee areas, resulting in reported damages of $2 billion, flooded bridges, closed roadways and 19 deaths.
Coordinating with other faith-based relief groups and volunteers from other states, South Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief responded immediately. In the succeeding months, RebuildSC was created to help families have safe, livable homes. Volunteers responded with construction work focused on sheetrock, painting, finishing, flooring and roofing.
The work continued through 2016, when additional damage was inflicted along South Carolina’s coast by Hurricane Matthew, which briefly made landfall Oct. 8 as a Category 1 hurricane.
Through RebuildSC, 236 homes in the Lower Pee Dee, from Florence to Georgetown, have received assistance in repair and recovery efforts. As work shifted to Marion County over the past summer, another eight to 10 homes have been served.
“We can conservatively estimate that about 2,500 volunteers have assisted Rebuild efforts since the 2015 flood,” said Randy Creamer, who heads up South Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief efforts.
Creamer praised the work accomplished over the past 18 months by Baptist volunteers in the Lower Pee Dee. They mobilized from Johnsonville, where First Baptist Church was a staging area and provided housing for volunteers.
“We are now working Marion County, and that service spills over to surrounding counties,” Creamer said. “Volunteer assistance is being provided through three churches, including Gapway Baptist Church, Nichols Baptist Church, and Marion Baptist Church. Associations in the area, as well as other local churches, are helping, too. We are asking mission teams to bring their own cooking crews.”
Creamer said the number of volunteers from outside South Carolina has fallen off from a year ago.
“The pool of volunteers is limited,” Creamer said. “Nationally, I think volunteers are experiencing some burnout. You have to remember that many of these people give up vacation time and family time, and use up a lot of energy to go and serve for several days at a time. It takes its toll.”
RebuildSC will now largely depend on what Creamer calls “homegrown” volunteers from South Carolina Baptist churches. He and coordinator Jack McCormick, a Missions Service Corps volunteer with the North American Mission Board, will be visiting associational meetings this fall and using other platforms to continue making RebuildSC known to South Carolina Baptists.
“There continues to be a lot of need,” Creamer said. “We see RebuildSC as a three-legged stool representing the needs, the volunteers, and the financing. When one of those legs goes away, our work will be done. We have the need, and we know we have enough funding to get us well into 2018. We need local churches to send mission teams.”
Those interested can call 843-582-7564 to discuss volunteerism in the Marion County area. For more information about RebuildSC, visit www.scbaptist.org/rebuildsc.
— Scott Vaughan writes for the South Carolina Baptist Convention.