Religious organizations to send truck to Mississippi victims
Uniontown Community Storehouse and Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Smithfield are both offering opportunities for local residents to help with relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Uniontown Community Storehouse is sending a truck filled with disaster relief material to Mississippi to aid with hurricane relief and local residents who want to help can contribute to the drive on Monday.
“Anybody who wants to donate should be there Monday between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.,’ said the Rev. Brian Kisner, president of Uniontown Community Storehouse and pastor of Bread of Life Tabernacle in Uniontown, which operates the storehouse as a ministry.
Local residents are being asked to bring cleaning supplies, diapers, tarps and tents to the storehouse, located at 26 E. Fayette St.
“They have enough water. They need cleaning supplies. They have people living under trees and we want to get them tents,’ said Kisner. “We don’t want clothing because we have enough.’
Local residents who want to make monetary donations can do so in two ways. They can contribute money to help the storehouse pay for the trip by giving a check marked for Uniontown Community Storehouse. To help with relief efforts, they can write a check to International Gospel Ourteach and Kisner said, “We’ll see they get the checks.’
The truck will be packed Monday night and is leaving Uniontown on Tuesday morning to assist areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.
“We have some disaster relief stuff from World Vision and we have made contact with a ministry in Mobile, Ala., that has a church in a Winn-Dixie in Goshey, Miss., and we’re going to use that building as a drop-off,’ said Kisner.
The Uniontown storehouse will deliver boots, blankets, Hazmat outfits, laboratory coats, gloves, safety goggles, denim jeans, about 30 beds, medical supplies, cleaning supplies, a pallet of Dove soap and a pallet of Vaseline Intensive Care lotion as well as new children’s clothing.
The storehouse is partnering with American Mission Team in Norris City, Ill., and World Harvest Outreach in Chambersburg in this project. The first truck is leaving Chicago this week and will travel to St. Louis, Sikeston, Miss., back to Norris City, Ill., and then to Nashville.
Uniontown has a tractor-trailer, which will send a load on Tuesday. A small truck from Chambersburg will also be sent to Uniontown with supplies for the journey.
The storehouse is expected to send another load in two to three weeks. The storehouse will announce details about the next load later for local residents who want to contribute.
Kisner said, “We want to thank GNH Trucking from Farmington. They cut us some slack on shipping.’
Asked why they are taking on this project, Kisner said, “It’s what we do, either here or there.’
Kisner said the storehouse waited to send items because it couldn’t get trucks in earlier.
For more information, phone Bread of Life Tabernacle at 724-438-4882 or the storehouse at 724-434-9121.
Meanwhile, Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Smithfield is reaching out to the public to help it raise $10,000 for hurricane relief.
The Rev. Jay Hurley, pastor, said the church is attempting to raise $5,000 for American Baptist Ministries.
“A fellow in our church said he will double that if we can reach that figure,’ explained Hurley.
The pastor noted that donations are tax-free. Donations can be sent to Mount Moriah at 30 Church St., Smithfield, 15478. The memo portion of the check should be marked OGHS, which stands for One Great Hour of Sharing.
Hurley said, “We want to do what we can to help.’