How CBF and CBFGA are lending a hand after Helene and Milton
By Jennifer Colosimo
You’ve heard (relentlessly) the facts and figures of how Hurricane Helene skirted east of its prepared path, slamming into unexpected and unprepared communities with magnanimous force to leave, in many cases, nothing in its wake. Especially now, in the aftermath of a second storm, it’s impossible not to know what is going on—or not going on, with many mountain towns still without power or potable water, not to mention homes, buildings and roads. But in the real-time tragedy, it’s a chance for men, women, families, churches and whole communities to come together and support their neighbors—and the facts on that side of things are much more uplifting.
“Hurricane Helene’s path went through an area of Georgia where [the CBF doesn’t] have an abundance of partner churches,” said Jody Long, CBF Coordinator for Georgia. “We had five partner churches directly impacted by the storm: First Baptist Church Augusta, Harlem Baptist Church, The Oaks Baptist Church in Lyons, First Baptist Church Fitzgerald and Fellowship Baptist Church, also in Fitzgerald.”
Long said that South Georgia had a large loss of power, especially in more rural areas like Lyons and Fitzgerald. In other areas, power and water services are back; in others, it’s still very much work in progress. In the more northern areas, like Harlem and Augusta, there was a large loss of power and water services but because of the amount of residents in those areas, the needs seem even greater.
“CBFGA has already sent initial disaster response funds to both Harlem Baptist Church and FBC Augusta to help with response efforts both within the congregation and in the larger community,” said Long. “One of our staff members has traveled to the Augusta area [recently] to see how their food and supply distribution efforts are going.”
But it’s more than just the CBF staff. While Long drove to Lyons and then Fitzgerald to hand-deliver initial disaster response funds, many other churches in the nearby (and not so nearby) communities are stepping in to help. They’re gathering supplies, gathering the troops to help rebuild, and in many cases taking in friends and family members from these communities.
“The devastation is immense,” said Long. “The mayor of Lyons said Georgia Power estimated that Toombs County (Lyons) and Montgomery County (Mount Vernon) need about 3,000 power poles to be replaced and re-installed. There were still large areas without power even a week or more later. In many areas, large pine and pecan trees are scattered on the ground like a game of pick-up sticks. In Fitzgerald, power has been restored to some areas but there are still massive amounts of trees down, especially in the less populated areas.”
Long makes it clear that “CBF and CBFGA are not first responders” when it comes to disaster relief, nodding to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Georgia National Guard, Georgia Power and Volunteers of America for their infrastructure and volunteers and employees who are specifically trained for this kind of situation. First responders, however, often leave once the situation on the ground has stabilized.
Long said, “Where CBF and CBFGA can be most helpful is coming alongside communities and partner congregations after the first responders have gone home. We can mobilize churches and volunteers to help with debris removal and long-term relationship building so communities and churches can recover and rebuild.”
So what does that mean immediately? Because Hurricane Helene left such a mess, “the need for help in communities will last for months and even years,” Long said. “Many people have reached out, wanting to send in work crews to help communities which is great. However, some areas are still trying to restore critical infrastructure, and the addition of others right now may not be the best thing.”
He ensures, though, that need will arrive soon.
CBFGA is asking for three things right now: Monetary donations that they can forward to local congregational partners to assist with everything from debris cleanup to providing meals to those without power and water to purchasing school supplies for kids when they return to school, and pretty much anything in between; Disaster response buckets that CBF and CBFGA can provide to churches and community members to help them begin cleaning up after disasters. They contain cleaning supplies and other vital resources, and the current supply is stretched thin. Churches and other groups can make them for CBF to collect and the CBF will disperse them where needed. In Georgia, Johns Creek Baptist Church at 6910 McGinnis Ferry Rd., Alpharetta, GA 30005, is the Atlanta/North Georgia collection point and the CBFGA Office at 988 1/2 Bond St., Macon, GA 31201, is the collection point for Central and South Georgia; Donations collected and delivered specifically to FBC Augusta for distribution in their surrounding area.
“One Wednesday night recently, our youth minister asked everyone to name one moment where you had either received a blessing or seen a blessing be imparted to others,” Long said. “Immediately I thought of the overwhelming response of CBFGA churches and individuals to the devastation of Hurricane Helene within Georgia. Within less than three weeks, we have raised more than $40,000 to help partner congregations and communities begin recovering, repairing, and even rebuilding homes, lives, and communities. By ourselves, we have sent more than 275 disaster response buckets to Fitzgerald, Ga., and Steinhatchee, Fl.; in partnership with CBF of South Carolina and CBF Florida and the Caribbean Islands, we have transported more than 200 buckets to Sarasota. We have our first chainsaw crew heading to Harlem this coming week, with more groups organizing now. The response has been a blessing to our neighbors in need, our state and our region.”
Long shared this thought: The movie “Love, Actually” opens with a monologue by Hugh Grant describing how when he begins despairing at the state of the world, he remembers the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. Scenes of laughter, hugs of affection, smiles and joy fill his mind. Then he says, “When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling love, actually … is all around.”
Long added that when disasters hit, “We have a choice of how we’ll respond, whether with generosity, empathy and love or with tightfistedness, cynicism and indifference. Watching the news on your phone, computer, or television, doom scrolling through social media, hearing horrific stories of hurt and pain—all of these give us reason to despair about the state of our world. Maybe, though, we can turn our eyes to the overwhelming generosity so many have offered to those in our state and beyond to help repair and rebuild their lives. Today, I’ll choose to know and believe that love is all around us and I’ll commit to opening my eyes to see it in all its many ways.”
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