Video – Adventist Community Services

The Willow Grove Adventist Community Services Center is one of several ACS Centers that are still responding to the needs of communities impacted by Hurricane Ida. They organized a distribution event on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, where boxes of food, clothing, comfort kits, and other items were distributed. North American Division ACS Director, Derrick Lea, visited the center to assess the recovery efforts that have been taking place around New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the last two months.

The distribution was scheduled to start at 11:00 am. However, Lea arrived at 10:30 am to see a line of cars already wrapped around the church, leading to the Community Center. As he got out of his car, he was stopped by a young lady that saw his golden yellow shirt and began thanking him, though he had done nothing at all. As he walked towards the entrance of the Center, he realized why she thanked him as he saw a sea of yellow ACS Disaster Response shirts taking the goods and piling them up in the parking lot. There were around 20 ACS volunteers that were busy at work serving the long line of cars. As they were serving the community, Lea quickly thanked them, and they returned to servicing those who were arriving. Though it was the middle of the work week, people had been coming for over an hour and this continued for three more hours.

“This is the community work that shows our care for those often overlooked, and the looks on the faces, and thanks in the voices of those helped can’t be measured. The Allegheny East Conference had received a grant from the NAD for this type of work, and Director Smith said he had around 25 churches that were able to do the same type of work around the affected area,” stated Lea. “I only had a chance to view one such location, but others similarly are serving their communities as well, and while this work might not get the exposure far and wide, those helped appreciate what the Seventh Day Adventist church is doing in their community,” continued Lea.

Line of cars around the church leading to the community center.

Allegheny East Conference ACS Disaster Response team at work helping the community.

Local police stopped by to watch the outreach work.

Van takes goods to people who have no transportation.

UPDATE – September 7, 2021

The Southwest Region Conference has been housing residents from New Orleans and surrounding areas whose homes had to be evacuated, at various locations around the conference office. The largest facility that was able to accommodate most people was the Lone Star campground in Athens, Texas. In addition to ACS providing aid, other departments from the conference have stopped by such as the Family Ministries Director, W.S. Lee, who met with many individuals on the campground. Since social distancing rules are in place, the number of people will be kept to a reasonable amount before they’re directed to other facilities such as WHO (World Harvest Organization) and Fondren in Houston who have prepared their churches for any overflow. The evacuees are provided with food and other essential items, as well. The Arkansas-Louisiana Conference is preparing to set up a Mobile Distribution into some of the hardest-hit areas by collecting goods that will be used for this operation. However, people are being asked not to come into the area due to the high flood waters, downed power lines, and fallen trees. Hammond and Grand Isle were hit the hardest as the storm swept through these areas as a Category 3 hurricane.

Having evacuated from New Orleans, Derrick tells of how he might move his family to another less vulnerable area.

one of the cabins used by those evacuated out of New Orleans.

On Sunday afternoon, August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall along the U.S. northern Gulf coast as a Category 4 storm, severely affecting Louisiana and Mississippi with drenching rains, relentless winds, and massive storm surge. More than 2,500 people fled Ida’s path and spent Sunday night in community shelters. Over one million residents are currently without power across Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Many neighborhoods that are still recovering from the devastation of hurricanes in 2020 are now facing flooded homes yet again, along with a daunting recovery process. And Hurricane Ida isn’t done yet; expected flash flooding, damaging winds, and significant rainfall will continue as the storm moves north this week.

We have been in constant contact with our ACS leadership at the local conferences who are currently on the ground with their Disaster Response teams rendering support to the affected communities. Southwest Region Conference ACS Director, Durandel Ford, is leading his team in providing food and other needed items through mobile distribution. They are also setting up shelters at a few local churches to house evacuees. ACS Director of Arkansas-Louisiana Conference, Lavida Whitson, is working with her team to compile supplies that will be used either at a specific point of Distribution or take them into the devastated areas.

Please remember in your prayers the communities who have been affected by this disaster event.

Photo Credit: Edmund D. Fountain for The New York Times