Overwhelming Response Fills Church With Donated Goods For Tornado Victims
Disaster response agencies help sort out donation dilemma
Release Date: May 28, 2003
Release Number: FNF-03-03
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Piles of donated women's, men's and children's clothes are stacked two feet high on a dozen tables that have overtaken the sanctuary of Faith Tabernacle Church of Pekin. Mounds of garbage bags filled with more donated clothes line the walls and the overflow fills a semi trailer stationed outside the church. The Sunday service on Memorial weekend had to be held in the basement of the church because of the outpouring of donations for South Pekin, Illinois tornado victims.
But a concert and the church school graduation scheduled for this week will be held in the sanctuary thanks to help from Adventist Disaster Response.
Despite an "Oh, my!" escaping from the lips of Adventist Derri Hanson when she saw the abundance of clothing in the church, the team got right to work sorting and bagging clothes that would then be transported to local agencies. Adventist volunteer Mary Katheryn Ratliff surveyed the scene and said, "It shows a lot of generous hearts out there."
With a nod towards the rummage-sale-look his church sanctuary had adopted, Reverend Dave Wilder said, "In the future, I'd want to be more precise in my request for donations."
Matching disaster response volunteers, and donations, to disaster needs
When Susan Jensen, FEMA Region V voluntary agency liaison, learned of the church's donation dilemma she placed a call to Royce Snyman, regional contact for the Adventist Disaster Response, a group skilled at organizing and distributing donated goods in response to a disaster.
Once the call went out from Snyman, teams from Michigan and Indiana arrived a day later to help church members manage the generous outpouring of donated goods intended for victims of the tornadoes. In South Pekin an F3 tornado touched down for 19 miles on May 10. Officials reported tornadoes destroyed 99 homes and damaged 190 in Central Illinois.
Mounds of clothes, household goods and toys ended up at Faith Tabernacle because Reverend Wilder and his congregation offered to open up their church to house donations. The church is located a few miles from where dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed in South Pekin, making it a logical distribution center.
Wilder became involved in the disaster response by shuttling food donations from local restaurants to the Salvation Army canteen set up at the disaster site. When he noticed that people were asking the Salvation Army where they could bring items for tornado victims, he offered his church. But Reverend Wilder didn't expect the announcement on a local radio station, and subsequent TV and newspaper coverage, to elicit such an overwhelming response.
"Within minutes of the radio broadcast, people were calling for directions to the church and by five o'clock we were swamped," said Wilder.
Originally, Wilder thought a few tables in a corner would suffice to accommodate the donations, but space needs soon transformed into a dozen tables in the church, a tent outside and a semi-trailer. Volunteers, like Carolyn Finch who drove 90 minutes each way every day for a week, organized the donations amassed inside the church by size and gender.
Wilder said some new clothing came in along with the used, and families who lost their possessions in the devastating tornado found useful items at the church. But many, many items did not meet the specific needs of those affected by the disaster.
"Most of the people who drove to the church and dropped off items really wanted to help those who suffered in the storm," said Susan Jensen. "But so many times, the types of donations received are not what is needed. In disaster response, it helps to be very specific about the needs of those affected by requesting either cash donations or describing items like new socks or bottled water."
Mary Katheryn Ratliff echoed that thought when describing her work with Adventist Disaster Response: "It helps when talking to the media after a disaster to tell them of specific needs, whether its sheets, blankets, personal care kits or children's clothes. Otherwise people will just clean out their closets."
Her group has developed an expertise in handling donations. Ratliff said trained volunteers first analyze the donation situation, then generally locate a local building to set up as a warehouse to take in the donations and sort them; then they can truck the items to a distribution site as the need arises.
Moving forward
Back in the church sanctuary, the Adventist volunteers continue sorting and bagging clothes. A few hours later it's learned that one local agency - Southside Mission in Peoria - is willing to take the clothing and other donations.
Reverend Wilder looks forward to participating in the first meeting of area churches to develop a plan to coordinate recovery efforts should another tornado or weather event leave a path of destruction in their community. From this past week's experience, he can provide plenty of input on how to handle donations.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 03-Jun-2003 10:57:58