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As waters rise, volunteers serve neighbors

 
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7:00 A.M. EST May 17, 2011 | BATON ROUGE, La. (UMNS)


Volunteers assemble cleaning buckets during a Change the World event at Memorial United Methodist Church in Monroe, La. A UMNS photo by Michelle Tripp.
Volunteers assemble cleaning buckets during a "Change the World" event at Memorial United Methodist Church in Monroe, La. A UMNS photo by Michelle Tripp. View in Photo Gallery

Despite the threat of flooding from a swollen Mississippi River, more than 210 United Methodist churches in Louisiana helped “Change the World” on May 14.

United Methodist churches across the Louisiana Annual (regional) Conference built houses and wheelchair ramps, hosted health fairs and held food drives as they reached out to people living in poverty. Churches also assembled a total of 1,500 cleaning buckets at strategic locations where flooding is anticipated in the next two to four weeks.

The timing seemed providential, said the Rev. Bob Burgess, superintendent of the Monroe District in northeastern Louisiana.

“God orchestrated this bucket assembly,” he said. “He had already set aside a day of service before we even knew of the potential of flooding in the state of Louisiana.”

The bucket assembly and the other service activities took place on the Louisiana Conference’s “Day of Caring,” part of the denominationwide “Change the World” initiative. Louisiana had the highest number of participating congregations of any United Methodist conference.

On the same day, the Army Corps of Engineers began opening the Morganza Spillway, inundating pastures and farmland in hopes of preventing potentially catastrophic flooding downstream.

The Associated Press reported that 25,000 people and 11,000 structures could be in harm’s way as the gates on the Morganza Spillway are gradually unlocked. It’s the first time the spillway gates have been opened in 38 years.

“Protecting lives is the No. 1 priority,” Army Corps of Engineers Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh told AP.

Flooding is expected in towns in and along the Atchafalaya Basin, ultimately reaching southward to Morgan City.

St. Landry Parish, a Louisiana county, is under mandatory evacuation, and another nine parishes are under voluntary evacuation orders, according to the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

Connection evident in volunteerism

An estimated 50 United Methodist churches in the Louisiana Conference are at risk of flooding, said the Rev. Darryl Tate, the conference’s director of disaster recovery ministry. The conference staff is in constant contact with those churches and also is sending flood-preparedness information to local churches in at-risk areas, he added.


Volunteers stockpile cleaning buckets at First United Methodist Church in Vidalia, La. A UMNS photo courtesy of the Rev. Wade Arnold.
Volunteers stockpile cleaning buckets at First United Methodist Church in Vidalia, La. A UMNS photo courtesy of the Rev. Wade Arnold.
View in Photo Gallery

Sager Brown, a United Methodist Committee on Relief depot in Baldwin, so far does not appear at risk of flooding.

The Rev. Don Cottrill, provost to Bishop William W. Hutchinson, said the conference’s experiences with similar disasters “has helped us to prepare for such times as these.”

“We are grateful to the United Methodist Committee on Relief and the United Methodist connection for its past assistance in so many ways, including well-designed disaster preparedness training and consultation,” Cottrill said.

Meanwhile, Louisiana United Methodists have prepared buckets they might use someday soon for their own relief.

The Louisiana Conference cleaning-bucket assembly and storage sites included the following United Methodist churches: First in Vidalia, Asbury in Lafayette and Memorial in Monroe.

Close to 100 volunteers from 20 churches throughout the Monroe District assembled 500 buckets at Memorial United Methodist Church, said Burgess, the Monroe District superintendent.

“The spirit and generosity within the group was amazing to watch,” he said. “We had a diverse group of volunteers, ranging in age from 91-year-old Marcella Tatum to an active little 2-year-old.”

UMCOR is working with annual conferences to respond to communities that have been devastated by spring storms and flooding, but funds are being disbursed faster than they are replenished. Your gift is urgently needed. Donations can be made to US Spring Storms 2011, UMCOR Emergency Advance #3021326.

*Backstrom is director of communications for the Louisiana Annual (regional) Conference.

News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., 615-742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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