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BARBARA DENMAN
Florida Baptist Convention
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| Four days after Wilma struck south Florida, a mother and child without power are greeted with instruction on how to get a hot meal at First Baptist Church in Hallandale. Photo by Joni B. Hannigan |
JACKSONVILLE—(FBC) After preparing more than 1.4 million meals in 12 days of operation, 13 Florida and Southern Baptist mobile mass-feeding kitchens serving Florida communities hard hit by Hurricane Wilma wrapped up their work and returned home Nov. 5.
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Three kitchens remain on site in the most severely damaged Broward and Dade County communities where electrical power has yet to be restored after the Oct. 24 storm. As of press time Nov. 7, the following kitchens remained open: Kentucky Baptists in Miami near Doral; Texas Baptist Men at Haverhill Baptist Church; Texas Baptist Men at First Baptist Church, Hallandale.
Florida Baptists’ two disaster relief kitchens, which had been stationed on the west coast, were phased out by Nov. 4. Florida volunteers staffing the largest unit at First Baptist Church of Naples prepared 100,100 meals during their 10-day deployment. Volunteers at the second kitchen located at First Baptist Church of Labelle prepared 56,733 meals.
Fritz Wilson, director of Florida Baptist Men, reported that even though the Florida kitchens had returned home, Florida Baptist volunteers continue to respond to the hurricane-induced needs by staffing other state convention’s kitchens.
“Our response has gone extremely well,” Wilson reported, garnering many positive remarks from emergency management officials for “our well-run organization.”
Wilson commended Florida and Southern Baptists for their fast response in mobilizing the relief effort, adding, “We had 16 kitchens in place within 48 hours after the storm.”
“We believe that through our response, we have opened doors for some of our churches with their city and county governments, especially in Haverhill and Miami-Dade,” he said. “We hope that by working through a local church, the community will view that congregation in an even better and more positive light.”
A command station established by the Florida Baptist Convention staff in Southwest Florida has also closed. A second east coast command center at First Baptist Church of Pembroke has been phased down and will most likely close by Nov. 11, reported Craig Culbreth, director of the state’s Partnership Missions Department.
There had been limited clean-up and recovery needs in the southeast corridor, Culbreth said. “We have been mostly placing tarps on roofs that were ripped off by the hurricane.”
The convention purchased large quantities of rice, beans and charcoal for distribution at two Florida Baptist Haitian churches in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale to help feed their surrounding communities. “We are trying to meet the Haitian’s community’s unique needs,” Culbreth explained.
A commodity distribution center remains open at First Baptist Church of Belle Glade, said Brenda Forlines, director of the Church and Community Ministries Department, providing rice, beans and diapers for Florida Baptist churches to distribute to their migrant communities.
“The need for help in the migrant community remains high,” she said, “and will continue for several months.”
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