“You never get used to this, it’s always a difficult thing to see,” said SCA Relief Coordinator, who arrived in Western Kentucky Monday morning. He adds: “This is one of the worst tornadoes I’ve seen. There is a great loss of life, buildings, homes.”
Mark visited several communities in the area as part of this assessment trip, connecting with local churches and leaders to identify needs and Point of Distribution (POD) sites. In Mayfield, he said, “It literally looks like a bomb went off.”
The weekend’s tornadoes left behind hundreds of miles of devastation and claimed at least 90 lives, 74 of those in Kentucky.
SCA is partnering with Covenant Community Church in Madisonville, KY to set up a POD (point of distribution) to receive and distribute supplies, along with PODs in three nearby communities.
Network partner CRI is serving a refugee neighborhood in Bowling Green, Kentucky by providing hot meals, clean-up assistance, and much needed chaplaincy services. A Christmas outreach is planned for Saturday, December 18. Several lives were lost in this neighborhood, including children and infants.
United Rescue Alliance has arrived Martin, Tennessee, to set up a POD and warming centers. They are also bringing tents, solar lights, and chainsaw crews.
Current needs include:
- Water
- Tarps
- Solar lights
- Back-up batteries for cell phones
- Chainsaws & crews
- Plastic totes for collecting belongings
- Gift cards
- Please consider a generous gift today to help with immediate on-the-ground assistance as well as Christmas toys for children in these devastated communities. A donation of $50, $100, $500, or any amount will provide much-needed relief, hope, and the message that Somebody Cares to tornado victims as Christmas approaches.
In addition, much prayer is needed:
- For search and rescue teams still looking for survivors
- For the children who have been traumatized
- For families who have lost homes, jobs, and loved ones
- For responders to have wisdom, grace, and strength as they serve
- For communities as Christmas approaches, it will be particularly difficult this year, pray that each one will experience Emmanuel, “God with us,” as never before.
Special thanks to partners Mercury One, Hands In Service, Somebody Cares San Antonio, Resurrection Life Ministries, Midwest Food Bank, and all others who have provided support.