God's Pit Crew begins international Blessing Bucket campaign

Buckets will be delivered to communities in Guatemalan jungles

DANVILLE, Va. – God's Pit Crew in Danville is going international.

On Friday, volunteers were in Danville and Roanoke collecting supplies for the nonprofit's first-ever international blessing buckets.

The buckets are disaster relief kits.

They contain many of the same supplies, like toiletries, as the blessing buckets distributed to families in the U.S., but they also contain other items, like small toys.

They will be sent to 25 communities in the jungles of Guatemala.

An organization called World Help approached God's Pit Crew with the idea last fall after hearing about God's Pit Crew's response to the hurricanes in Texas and Florida.

"After talking with them about the international buckets, they sent a survey to their missionaries in Guatemala of what the needs were. So out of that, we designed a bucket," God's Pit Crew Blessing Bucket Program director Julie Burnett said.

A total of 1,140 buckets will be sent to Guatemala. That is the most buckets that can fit in a single shipping crate.

The shipping crate will be loaded onto a cargo ship and taken to Guatemala. Burnett said it is expected to arrive sometime over the summer, possibly in July.

God's Pit Crew volunteers plan to help distribute the buckets in Guatemala.

The buckets will be filled on April 14 at God's Pit Crew's warehouse located at 2499 North Main Street in Danville.

Volunteers are needed to help fill them. If you would like to help, or would like to donate items, contact God's Pit Crew at 434-836-4472.

Burnett said the hope is to expand the international blessing bucket program in the future.

"After we do these buckets, based on our resources, (World Help) would like us to go to 12 more countries," Burnett said.

Items for the blessing buckets bound for Guatemala can be donated until April 2.