Donations from Ohio Baptists Help Hurricane Victims
When Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas and Louisiana coasts bringing devastation to hundreds of thousands of people, Ohio Southern Baptist Churches immediately began seeking ways to assist those affected. Then, Hurricane Irma began her trek up through Florida and Georgia, again bringing devastation to many thousands of people. The State Convention of Baptists in Ohio Disaster Relief (SCBODR) Coordinator, Sam Kelley, created an “In-Kind” donation list and posted it on the SCBO web page. Several churches have responded by collecting items on the list and by making monetary donations to the SCBODR team. Some are still collecting and will do so through the middle of October. (click here for the in-kind donation list)
Some of the most recent donations were from the First Baptist Church (FBC) of West Jefferson, a face-book effort, and the Cleveland Hope Baptist Association. The FBC of West Jefferson donated fifteen (15) $ 50.00, Home Depot prepaid cards. The cards were immediately sent to the Director of the Southern Baptist Texas Convention in Grapevine, Texas. The cards will be used to minister to victims and allow them to purchase items they need most in their recovery.
Michael Kelley, son of SCBODR Coordinator, coordinated a face-book effort among some of his friends and gathered a pickup truck load of food, water, cleaning supplies, and diapers for the relief effort. These items were taken to the disaster site by an Ohio Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster (VOAD) member (Ohio SBDR is a member of the Ohio VOAD).
Pastor Gregory Royce, Life Brand Cowboy Church, Painesville, “ramrodded” collection of items from churches in his area of the Cleveland Hope Association. He arranged for delivery of the items by Kreigh Spahr, Action in Motion – Workforce Training Academy, to an AmerisourceBergen warehouse in Lockbourne, Ohio. Mr. Spahr was accompanied by Jason Kamp, who assists in the work of the workforce training academy – tractor trailer driving training.
Pastor Royce assisted in gathering approximately nine hundred (900) cases of water, forty (40) clean-up buckets, baby diapers, and comfort health kits. He also provided $598 in monetary donations to assist in delivery of the items to disaster victims. The items were initially headed to Texas, then were targeted for Florida, then Texas, and then again to Florida. As only Our God can do, He ultimately rerouted the items to Puerto Rico! The AmerisourceBergen, a drug wholesale company, offered to transport them, at their expense, to the Puerto Rico location! What an awesome God we serve. He was helped by Candice Young, Operations Director and member of Violet Baptist Church to make this happen.
The money sent by Pastor Royce will be utilized by the SCBODR ministry to assist with expenses related to responding to the current hurricane outbreak.
