DECATUR, Ala. — We met with Erick Chaney, Minister of Priceville Church of Christ in Decatur. He tells our reporter, “When we first get information that it starts to be dangerous or could cause damage, we start having a plan together."
With all of the damage on the coast, people are in need of assistance and clean-up is getting started. Churches in the Valley are on their way to Louisiana to help.
Chaney adds, local churches across the Valley are ready to leave to help victims of Laura in any way they can. The Priceville church is a part of a small coalition of local churches that often respond to natural disasters to provide aid. Chaney says, “It’s Decatur, Pricevile, Hartselle, and Flint and so we all have team members that are involved.”
We met up with representatives from the churches back in March as they were heading up to the Nashville area to help clean up, following devastating tornadoes. This time, the trailer is being packed up again. But, headed to Lake Charles, Louisiana with necessary supplies following Hurricane Laura. Chaney tells us, “Primarily, it’s roofing nails, tarps, building supplies…”
And they’re in need of donations of those things, hygiene products and even pet supplies. You can drop donations off at the Decatur, Pricevile, Hartselle, and Flint Churches of Christ.
Chaney says the first group of volunteers left Thursday afternoon to head to Louisiana. But, there will be more trips. He explains, “The core responders, if you will, will sort of assess what the needs are. They come back, give a report and say ‘here’s what we need’. Then we sort of gather the troops, if you will. We get a heavy team to go down and start clean up work and things of that nature.”
He adds, the damage can sometimes be shocking on these relief trips. But, the people in these areas need support that the churches are eager to give. Chaney says, “The main reason is to share Jesus Christ. But, second, these people are broken. Their lives have been displaced. Some of them have lost everything they know. When they see a congregation with ‘disaster relief’ on it, some of them don’t know what to say. They’re overwhelmed.”
Minister Chaney tells our reporter, items like tarps and nails are always necessary. But other things like storage containers and snacks for volunteers are also needed. Monetary donations are also accepted; but supplies are preferred at this time.
You can find a list of items the churches are requesting below:
- Individually wrapped snacks
- Hygiene products
- Cleaning supplies
- Tarps
- Pet supplies
- Monetary Donations (100% of donations go toward purchasing supplies)
Below is a Facebook post from Decatur Church of Christ providing more details on donation drop-off.