WFEC donates disaster relief gear
by Carrie Bennett
West Florida Electric Cooperative recently donated hard hats, rain suits and other gear to Bethel Baptist Church in Holmes County for use in disaster relief efforts. Bethel Baptist and the Holmes County Baptist Association are now participating in Florida Baptist Disaster Relief, an arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. “We saw a need for some sort of relief organization like this nearby, but found that the nearest disaster relief teams were in Pensacola or east of Tallahassee, so we started training here,” said Bethel Baptist Church Pastor Kent Lampp.
Last year, nine volunteers from Bethel Baptist Church received training in child care, recovery, and water purification; in all, approximately 125 members of the Holmes County Baptist Association are trained in various aspects of disaster relief. The Association operates two feeding units – one equipped to feed 25,000 people three hot meals per day and the other, 6,000 per day.
The local relief teams may provide assistance such as wind- and flood- damage cleanup for area residents, or may aid in large-scale relief efforts elsewhere, often working with the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. For example, Holmes County team members joined other relief workers in New York City following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and, more recently, assisted in areas struck by Hurricane Isabel.
Area residents interested in volunteering can attend a training session in June 2004 at Northside Baptist Church in Ponce De Leon. For additional information or assistance, call Lampp at Bethel Baptist Church at 263-6589 or Paul Fries at the Holmes County Baptist Association at 547-4079 or e-mail the Association at hcba@wfeca.net.
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