“It was perfect timing,” says Karen Benson, director of disaster response for Convoy of Hope. “They received our call inquiring about the needs in Decatur just as their resources had been depleted.”
On May 4, Convoy of Hope workers set up another point of distribution in Decatur, Ala., where a local church had their own response to families in crises; those who suffered tornado damage and were still without power. By the end of May 4, Convoy of Hope volunteers across the Southeast had worked more than 15,000 hours to bring relief and hope to tornado survivors.
As victims of deadly tornadoes in the Southeast continue to wade through the wreckage of their homes, many residents along the Mississippi River basin are wading through floodwaters in their homes.
“In the days ahead, as Convoy of Hope workers prepare to hand distribution operations over to our local partners in Alabama, we will turn our focus to monitoring, assessing and serving families affected by the Midwest flooding,” adds Benson.
In addition to food and water sent to Poplar Bluff to aid sandbagging crews, Convoy of Hope partnered with the United Methodist Church to ship a load of flood buckets to Sikeston, Mo., to help with cleanup. These buckets contain items such as gloves, detergent, cleaning towels, hand sanitizer, trash bags and sponges.
Check back here later today for a video update of our efforts in the South.
