On Monday morning, God’s Pit Crew deployed volunteers and tractor-trailers filled with supplies to Benton, Kentucky, to help those impacted by last month’s deadly tornadoes.
“It still looks really rough,” said GPC’s Immediate Disaster Response Coordinator Chris Chiles.
“This is a house. That’s what most of the homes look like here. The roof is completely gone. Doors are gone, and it’s kind of a ghost town,” continued Chiles
The crews wasted no time getting to work, removing dangerous trees and doing house demolitions.
”A house like this, we’ll tear the house down. That way, the family can start to think about the rebuild process,” explained Chiles.
This is God’s Pit Crew’s second trip to Kentucky. Last month, they responded to Mayfield, where the initial devastation was shocking. Their relief efforts included everything from removing debris to tarping roofs. A month later, the residents still need assistance.
”We started getting requests, the people who fell through the cracks. There’s been a lot of organizations here helping. But some people didn’t know who to contact or just something happened,” Chiles added.
The volunteers and staff will also distribute emergency supplies like water, food, tarps, disinfecting wipes and blessing buckets.
”What that bucket has is basically what you need to survive for a day or two: water, shelf-stable food. It has a hand-written note letting people know that we care about them, people care about them and the Lord cares about them.”
They’ll be in Kentucky through January 20th, providing help and hope to those families still picking up the pieces.