Two teams of Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers left the state Wednesday, September 19 to serve in Lumberton, N.C. The town of 3,000 has become a virtual island due flooding caused by rains from Hurricane Florence.
The teams – an incident command team based out of Wayne City and an assessor and chaplaincy team from the Metro East St. Louis area – will join other Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers who are already on the ground operating a mobile kitchen serving meals to flood victims.
These teams are the first of several expected waves to go out from Illinois. Dwayne Doyle, Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief State Director, said, “We need trained volunteers to contact us if they are available to go serve.” A list of teams on standby and upcoming Disaster Relief training dates is available at www.IBSA.org/dr.
“If you aren’t a trained volunteer but would like to help, you can make a donation,” Doyle said. “It costs around $500 to send a team to the disaster area, and around $1,000 to send a team with a trailer. Your gifts help get our volunteers to where the need is the greatest.” To donate, visit www.IBSA.org/donatetodr.
The two teams are made up of a combined 15 people who will be on the ground between 7-14 days. A shower/laundry trailer based in Macoupin Baptist Association and a flood recovery/chainsaw team from Greater Wabash Baptist Association will leave for Lumberton on Thursday, September 20.
Multiple flood recovery/chainsaw teams are preparing to leave some as early as this week.
Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief has more than 1,700 trained volunteers belonging to 37 teams based around the state. Volunteers do flood recovery, operate mobile kitchens, shower and laundry facilities, provide child care for parents as they navigate meetings with federal agencies, and offer spiritual counsel in their time of loss.