SCBaptist Disaster Relief volunteers are currently providing shower units, laundry units, feeding units, chainsaw units, incident management, chaplains, and damage assessors at locations across South Carolina that were affected by Hurricane Helene.
Mass feeding operations are providing meals to residents in Aiken County, Spartanburg County, Cherokee County, and Greenwood County. As of Oct. 2, approximately 4,000 meals have been served, according to Sandy Bezjak of the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s SERVE team.
More than 500 jobs at homes damaged by falling trees, high winds and flooding have been assessed thus far to be worked on in coming weeks, Bezjak added.
A fixed kitchen in Cherokee County is working directly with Broad River Baptist Association, and disaster relief recovery units also are working out of Mt. Airy Baptist Church in Easley, she said.
“At least two thirds of South Carolina counties have been affected in some significant way with some of the most devastating damage in the Upstate, particularly in Anderson, Greenville, Pickens, Laurens and Spartanburg counties — but also with unprecedented desolation in Aiken County and Edgefield County,” SCBaptist Executive Director-Treasurer Tony Wolfe said in an Oct. 2 video update.
Wolfe said he had been driving around the state the past two days and was stunned by the devastation.
“The damage across South Carolina may be the worst we’ve seen in generations, and the relief and recovery effort will be long and extensive,” Wolfe said, praising the efforts of hundreds of disaster relief teams and pastors and churches who are working tirelessly to get food and water to their neighbors and cutting trees off houses and from driveways.
“Our neighbors to the North also are experiencing tragic loss and deep sorrow, and I’m thankful that South Carolina Baptists are rising to that occasion to serve and minister to them through prayer and action and donations of tangible needs,” Wolfe said. “We’re praying continuously for the preservation of life there and for God to multiply his grace in their relief efforts and their recovery efforts as well.”
Retirement Communities
Residents of the Bethea and Martha Franks retirement communities have fared relatively well following the storm, S.C. Baptist Ministries of the Aging President Tom Turner told The Baptist Courier.
Bethea, in Darlington, was out of power for about six hours on Friday, while Martha Franks, in Laurens, was without power for about 28 hours, Turner said. Both were on limited backup generators during that time.
“Martha Franks’ challenge has been the staff’s personal situations with power outages and such,” Turner said. “Fortunately, the communities haven’t needed a disaster relief team.”
Turner said he was able to visit Martha Franks yesterday (Oct. 1) and did not hear any reports from staff members of significant home damage.
“Overall, we are very grateful for God’s protection at both communities this past week,” Turner said.
Children’s Ministries
Danny Nicholson, president of Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries, provided a video update on its Greenwood campus on Sept. 30.
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“We’ve got some cottages that are damaged,” Nicholson reported. “The good news is no children were hurt, no staff were hurt, and we’re very, very thankful for that.
“Every single piece of this campus has been touched, from structural damage to the cottages, to trees — old, beautiful trees — that have fallen across our campus, to Max Farms that has really been devastated,” Nicholson said.
Hundreds of people have arrived to help Connie Maxwell recover, including Crumbs Ministries out of Mississippi, which is helping feed approximately 500 people a day, he said, expressing appreciation to the volunteers.
Churches and individuals who want to help in some way may go to Connie Maxwell’s website, www.conniemaxwell.com,
Camp McCall
Camp McCall near Sunset suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Helene. An estimated 60 to 70 trees are down across the property, and multiple buildings were damaged, including at least two cabins that were completely destroyed, according to posts on McCall’s Facebook page.
Powerlines and power poles were obliterated, and the lake suffered additional damage by an estimated eight-foot increase in its water level.
“Looks like we completely lost cabins 6 and 9, and the Guest House had major tree damage,” Camp McCall Director Matt “Spinner” Allen told The Baptist Courier. “Seven or eight of the cabins had some roof damage, but we should be able to repair them.”
At this point, camp officials do not know when the facility will be fully operational again.
Well over 100 volunteers have shown up since Friday, Allen said. “As of this morning (Oct. 2), we have removed 73 trees from camp. We’re trying to clear all our primary and secondary roads for easier access.”
Spinner said the volunteers hope to have the major tree work done by this Saturday, then the work will shift to repairing buildings. If church groups would like to help, contact Amanda Cox at amandacox@scbaptist.org. Volunteers should expect to be completely self-sufficient as power has yet to be restored.
Current needs include gas for generators, personal protective equipment for volunteers, chain saw supplies, and cases of drinking water.
SCBaptist Universities
All three of South Carolina Baptists’ universities escaped major damage to their campuses.
“Our campus was spared any injuries of students or faculty or staff,” reported Anderson University President Evans Whitaker. “We only had damage to trees and power lines and things that can be repaired … so we’re very, very thankful for that.”
“Thankfully, Charleston Southern University was spared from property damage. We are so grateful,” said Jenna Johnson, executive director of marketing and communications.
“Our campus ministries team is identifying ways we can help our fellow universities and neighbors in the Southeast as the area seeks to clean up and restore what has been lost,” she added. “We are praying for all impacted!”
North Greenville University President Gene Fant also reported some water intrusion and a fair number of trees down. “A couple of the trees hit houses on campus, but there were no injuries,” Fant said. “We are giving thanks that God blessed us by being spared from the worst of things,” he added.
Volunteers Urgently Needed
In his Oct. 2 video update, Wolfe made an urgent appeal for more South Carolina Baptists to become involved in the ongoing relief efforts.
“We need you to go serve with disaster relief teams right now across our state who are pulling trees from houses and from roadways, who are serving water bottles and hot meals in your neighborhoods, and who are ministering to hurting families with the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he urged.
“But we also need you to give because of the ongoing administration cost of our disaster relief network, because those are covered by the generous cooperative program giving of South Carolina Baptist churches,” Wolfe continued.
“South Carolina Baptists, this is a call to rise to our opportunity and to become who I know we are — a sacrificial, generous and actively involved family of churches,” Wolfe said, urging to stay connected to relief needs and ministry opportunities through the South Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief website.
Editor’s Note: This story is being continually updated as additional reports become available.