Va. – With Hurricane Idalia on the way, there’s a push for volunteers and donations. Disaster relief organizations are on standby, including some here locally.
“Your heart goes out to all the people that are in the storm’s path,” Jeane Smiley-Mason, President of Gleaning for the World, said. “We’re watching it, we know something’s going to happen, and so we’re starting our response.”
Gleaning for the World is a disaster relief organization based in the Lynchburg area. The group will be accepting donations at the Ward’s Road Sam’s Club in Lynchburg on Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
“Baby supplies, it can be water and healthy juices, it can be personal items, it can be non-perishable food,” Smiley-Mason said. “We even include pet food.”
God’s Pit Crew, a Danville non-profit disaster response team is also in the beginning stages of their response.
“Our trailers are loaded our skid steers, our excavators, are loaded, chained down, our trucks are fueled up,” God’s Pit Crew Immediate Disaster Response Coordinator Chris Chiles said. “We are currently just getting everything strapped down and ready to pull out of here whenever we need to.”
Chiles said the group will take supplies or blessing buckets down, as well as volunteers. He said usually they bring around a hundred people to an area for three to six weeks of cleanup.
“If you feel called, and you want to go these trips they are really easy to do,” Chiles said. “It doesn’t cost a penny to our volunteers. You just have to get there, and we provide all of the food, all of the lodging, all of the tools, everything.”
Red Cross leaders said they are also in the process of sending volunteers to Florida, but they plan to keep some in the Commonwealth locally just in case they’re needed here.
Find how you can get involved in relief efforts by clicking any of the links below:
- God’s Pit Crew: https://godspitcrew.org/
- Gleaning for the World: https://www.facebook.com/GleaningForTheWorld/