Samaritans Purse

[stirs]

These guys are incredible.

My house and many neighbors have major tornado damage. Some totally wiped out.

I was fortunate that I still have a roof, even though it is damaged from trees. It is wonderful to have Red Cross drive through your neighborhood, and Salvation Army to set up on the highway right at the end of your driveway to serve coffee to workers, but then there IS the work.

The fallen trees block roads, driveways, on or against your home and you cannot even get in or out.

Samaritans Purse had guys come through early on Thursday morning doing a type of "triage", where they assess who is in the worst shape, and then they prioritize their crews. They have many crews in here with bobcats, huge chain saws, tarps, generators, lumber, etc.

They showed up at my house just after lunch on Thursday and the equipment they brought turned a month long job into about a 3 hour project. I have no trees on my house, next to my house, in my driveways, etc. There were about 3 truckloads of volunteers that followed each "crew" and did incredible work.

With so many news crews, just wanting to get the story and show the world the damage and pain, it was good to have a group like SP, come in, work beside you to take the pain away. My hat is off to these guys. Tons of people with their roofs covered with huge tarps. We are back on our feet much sooner because of SP.

[Davidson Deac II]

Thats cool. Been looking for a charity to donate to, you might have just chosen for me.

[jb_online]

Sorry you had to go through that! But I'm really glad that someone was good enough to come through your neighborhood and offer help. It's a win win situation because you know they feel pretty good helping others.

[Jackofalltrades]

Sorry to here but I'm glad they were able to help, I'll certainly keep that in mind when we dole out our yearly charitable contributions.

[Squirrel]

SP is really good. At the previous company I worked for they would charter a plane to natural disasters around the world. They where usually in there a few days after the event happened. Good group.

[stirs]

Met a guy at the airport once from SP and he was headed to Thailand or something within just a day or so of the disaster happening. Incredible group. They organized local volunteers all day today and took them from sight to sight for cleanup.

Also today, I have to say a thanks to Hickory Grove Baptist Church, who sent a group of guys to our neighborhood and some of them worked at my home and neighbors home the whole day. Just now getting in and totally spent. These guys too were very talented and made sure that trees fell where they should.

Lots of good people helping up here. We had church groups walking up the road today with food going house to house and some made their vans into "sandwich wagons" and fed anyone they saw working. Very appreciative to all.

[ladypanther]

Great to hear Stir. I think we are on this earth together to take care of each other. Glad that it is happening. Also...knew of SP for international stuff. Awesome that they are making a difference locally too.

Sorry that you were affected by the tornado....I missed it by 10 miles and appreciate how lucky I am.

[Jeff L]

Where do you live Stir? I live in Hildebran off of Johnson Bridge Road and ha seen SP's work first hand the last three days... These guys and gals are everything you said and more! We didn't have much damage so we have been out the last three days helping others in our community. I saw a guy from SP yesterday and commented on how I liked his shirt... Later on in the day he took the time to find me and bring me one. The group from NC Baptist Men have been amazing up here too... Worked with a group of them today for eight hours and had a blast!