Southern Baptist storm volunteers work for 'glory of God'
by CATHERINE SMITH Reporter

While many area companies are pleased with their financial gain from the Oct. 12 storm, volunteers from the Southern Baptist Convention are praising the opportunity it has given them to help those in need while teaching the word of God.

"There is a window of opportunity here, and we have to seize that opportunity in order to tell people how Christ loves them," said Incident Commander Donald Kimbell, of Louisiana. "We are here to help those who have a very high priority - elderly, handicap, financially disabled. We will not turn anyone away who is in great need of disaster relief."

Volunteers for the SBC have come from throughout the country to the Amherst Baptist Church, on Willow Ridge Drive, where the organization is housing the SBC command center and its volunteers.

The church accepts calls from those in need of tree and debris removal, and the applications are transferred into a database of "zones." Each of these zones makes up a particular area of the greater Buffalo community, and each is given equal treatment when deciding which jobs should be completed and when.

"We are trying to do as much as we can for these people," said Kimbell. "We have feeding units that are capable of serving thousands of meals, as well as chain saw units, recovery units, shower units, child care units and water purification units."

SBC volunteer Tom Hawkins dismantles a fallen tree with a chainsaw on Highland Lake Avenue in the Town of Tonawanda. Photo by Catherine Smith

Many of these same volunteers also helped in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita more than one year ago.

The SBC has seen a total of more than 500 volunteers come and go since workers arrived in Amherst on Oct. 14. As of the beginning of November, there were approximately 45 volunteers, with the number expected to double by the final week the SBC is in town.

With nearly 1,200 requests for help processed by the SBC and an average of 30 jobs being completed each day, there is still much work to be done before Nov. 18, the day volunteers have to turn their projects over to the state's long-term recovery operation and go home.

"The days are long," Kimbell noted. "Volunteers pay their own way. They sleep in churches. They've been known to sleep under trucks. But the long days pay off."

SBC Volunteer Jerry Shilling stands atop a roof while cutting down limbs from a large tree that had fallen onto a home in the Town of Tonawanda. Photo by Catherine Smith

Each night the volunteers gather at the church to have what they call "the last supper." This is their opportunity to have a hot meal and share their experiences of the day through the question, "What has blessed you most in doing this work?"

Paul Palmer of Salmon, Ind. said, "I'm a hugger, I love reaching out to people. I feel guilty after every trip because I've received more blessing than I've given. I can't seem to out-give God."

His wife, Tammie, agreed.

"It is just so rewarding to be able to help. I'm in the office helping to coordinate the teams, but I do talk to homeowners. I spoke to an elderly woman today who was distraught. I prayed with her. The blessing was that I was able to tell her that her job request was in process."

Ken Curtin, voluntary agency liaison for FEMA, is grateful for the work of the SBC volunteers.

"We can't go to a disaster without the SBC," Curtin said. "They are so helpful. They do things we couldn't possibly do." Curtin was referring to the mental and spiritual healing that many volunteers bring to those in need. Kimbell spoke with a woman

who had been so depressed about the flooding in her basement that she could not get out of bed. When the SBC helped to drain the water and clean the mold, the woman told them that she felt hope again. It is experiences such as this that keep the volunteers going.

"We're not here for the glory," said Kimbell. "We're here for the glory of God. Even the smallest amount of exposure can help us because it may inform people in need of help who otherwise may not have known we were here."

Fore more information about the Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief, contact volunteers at the Amherst Baptist Church at 691-9456.