Local church raising money, supplies to help victims of Hurricane Harvey

Victory Life Church may be small, but they have a big relief mission

By Whisper Edwards / whisper@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 8/30/17

FOLEY - On Friday, August 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas as a category 4 hurricane with winds reaching 130 miles per hour. The storm stretched the state’s Gulf Coast and brought inches …

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Local church raising money, supplies to help victims of Hurricane Harvey

Victory Life Church may be small, but they have a big relief mission

Posted

FOLEY - On Friday, August 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas as a category 4 hurricane with winds reaching 130 miles per hour. The storm stretched the state’s Gulf Coast and brought inches of devastating rain to some of the largest and populous cities. Among fatalities and injured persons, there are thousands who have been affected by Harvey’s impact. Over 50 inches of rain has flooded homes and turned the busy streets of Texas into rivers. Power outages have affected more than a quarter-million and some victims may be without power for weeks.

On top of dealing with a lack of supplies, loss of power, and floodwater, Texans are also facing smaller, but still problematic issues such as: rats, fire ants, mildew, and theft.

While there are already reports of individuals and organizations gathering resources to help Texans, Victory Life Church in Foley has already gathered supplies to take to Texas as soon as the roads are clear.

“We have already filled one truck with supplies and are on standby to go as soon as road access is available,” said Brian Ward, member of VLC and volunteer in the Texas relief effort, a mission that is being led by Pastor Frank Griffith.

This is not the first time VLC has worked to provide relief to those affected by disasters. According to Ward, VLC was cooking and providing food for over 1,500 victims in New Orleans 24 hours after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Louisiana city, and VLC plans to help Texas in the same way.

Ward says that VLC has already set up a distribution point in San Antonio, Texas that will service the area, including Rockport, Texas. After distributing supplies, VLC volunteers plan to access the area and once they have determined the area with the greatest need, VLC plans to set up a full-time kitchen to feed victims of Harvey.

“VLC can feed up to 1,500 people a day if the resources are available,” said Ward.

Currently, VLC is gathering supplies for the relief effort, including mops, elbow-length chemical gloves that do not contain latex, buckets, trash bags meant for yard clean up, pillows (according to Ward, pillows are the most requested item), and more. VLC is also asking for monetary donations to buy supplies as needed, food products to feed victims, and future operational costs of the relief effort. 100% of the donations will go to the relief effort that will affect an estimated 450,000 people without a home or supplies.

Anyone who desires to donate or volunteer is welcome to contact Brian Ward at 850-499-2720 as he is coordinating resources and labor for VLC. Or you can drop by VLC, located at 20511 County Road 12 in Foley.

“The needs of Texas are historically unprecedented and it will take everyone working with organizations like VLC to meet those needs,” said Ward. “However, instead of giving to a distant organization, Baldwin County residents will have a local friend they can trust with their donations.”