Local churches help those impacted by tornado

Published 8:30 am Wednesday, March 29, 2023

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In the wake of the devastation left by Sunday’s tornado, many local churches have come together as donation centers to help those impacted by the storm.

The Troup Baptist Association has been working with a couple of churches in West Point to help create donation centers, send out groups to help with tree and debris removal and give gift cards out to those in need.

Angela Maddox, the administrative assistant of TBA, said they are taking item donations and gift cards donations. For gift cards, the church suggests stores like Walmart, Home Depot or Kroger, where people could get medicine, food supplies and building materials such as tarps, storage containers and other things that might be needed at this time.

“Gift cards are a lot easier to move and distribute than actual items. The person in need can get what they need, but we are also taking tangible items,” Maddox said.

She also said at this time, the organization is not taking clothing donations. Troup Baptist Association is located at 1301 Washington St in LaGrange. 

The Lanett Church of Christ will be giving emergency provisions and supplies as part of their Church of Christ Disaster Relief Effort on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The church also held a relief effort Tuesday.

Minister Jeff Clevenger said the church is giving away food boxes, buckets of cleaning supplies, water, clothes for men, women and children, personal care packages, bedding and more.

“The most impactful part of doing this for our community is being able to let people see Jesus in us,” Clevenger said. “Jesus and his ministry were all about compassion, reaching out and doing what he could do for people, and it’s the same for us. We want our community to know that we care, that we’re here to serve them, and that we love and care about them.”

Lanett Church of Christ is located at 706 South 13th Street.

West Point First United Methodist Church is holding a clothing drive on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sherry Pinckard of West Point Methodist Church said at this time, the church has received enough clothes but is still taking donations of shoes, linens, and toys.

“That’s one thing I love so much about West Point. I chose to live here because this is a community that cares about each other. When there’s a need, we step up,” Pinckard said. “Our mayor was knee-deep in the water trying to help unclog storm drains.”

Debra Downs said the church has received monetary donations.

Those will go to the Troup Baptist Association and then to the Red Cross, which will distribute the cards as needed.

“We just want to help people in need,” Downs said. “One member’s house was spared by the grace of God. We just want to help our neighbors, and I feel like this is a good start.”

West Point First United Methodist Church is located at 306 East 7th Street.

Reeds Chapel Baptist Church is a donation center and is taking donations Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They currently are asking for water, personal toiletry items, snack foods and other emergency items. At this time, they ask for no clothing donations.

Pastor Jeff McCartney said the church jumped at the opportunity to help those in need.

“When the storm hit, we were trying to figure out what we could do to help. Andy Buchanan from the Troup Baptist Association contacted me and said, ‘Can we can we use y’all as a site for supplies?’ And we said certainly. We enjoy outreach and this is unfortunate that this happened, but we’re honored to be a part of helping out our community,” McCartney said. “Every month, we’re trying to do something to help our community, and this is just another thing for us to do and our church members were ready to step up.”

Reeds Chapel Baptist Church is located at 7258 West Point Rd.