HURRICANE RELIEF
Operation Blessing: Ready, Willing, and
Able!
By Andrew Knox
The 700 Club
Of the six major hurricanes in 2004, five hit the United States.
Florida was slammed four times, killing 116 people. U.S. damages
alone could reach an amazing 25 billion dollars!
But Operation Blessing has made a substantial difference. CBN
Partners have given $1.7 million to relief efforts! Here’s
a quick look at some ways you did it.
Hurricane Charley struck first, crushing Punta Gorda, Florida. Operation
Blessing immediately responded with 120,000 pounds of food. Within three
weeks, OB delivered 2 million pounds of food and served 500,000 meals.
Kevin Smith is the director of The Salvation Army's Emergency
Disaster Services for Florida. “Operation Blessing has helped
us tremendously,” says Kevin, “by bringing in products
that we can get out to the people. There’s a lot of good
things happening here, and we’re just thankful for the opportunity
to partner with Operation Blessing.”
We braced for hurricane #2, while still trying to recover from Charley.
After Frances blew thru, Faith Temple Church had $75,000 in damage.
Even before fixing his own roof, Pastor Smith put his troubles
aside and hoped God would help him care for these low-income migrant
workers.
“After the storm I went in and prayed,” says Pastor
Smith. “I said,' Lord this is bigger than me and I need
help.' So we began to just pray and believe, and then the next
day the phone started ringing, and then this week Operation Blessing
shows up and did what they’re doing, and it’s just
overwhelming.”
CBN partners gave $30,000 to ensure Pastor Smith could feed the community.
Carol is one of the many hurricane victims that found refuge in a shelter.
Her home was destroyed, and she’d been running from hurricanes for
weeks when CBN spoke with her.
“I don’t know how to do it; I don’t know how
to do it anymore,” she said. “I don’t know where
I’m supposed to be.”
Pastor Charles Atkins runs the Church of God shelter in St. Petersburg,
Carol’s temporary home. CBN partners provided $53,000 to help him
care for Carol and 600 others left homeless after the storms.
First hitting the Caribbean, Ivan was a monster, slashing its
way through the Grand Caymans with winds that reached 208 mph.
Operation Blessing came to the aid of people in the Caymans,
Haiti, and Cuba when hurricanes slammed these islands. They brought
much needed generators, chainsaws, and food and disaster kits.
But Ivan wasn’t through, he then slammed ashore in Alabama.
Like Florida, people were depending on the church for help, and
CBN partners came through again, helping feed 14,000 hot meals
a day.
CBN partners, your $1.7 million provided 148 truckloads of supplies
and 6.5 million pounds of food from North Carolina to Cuba to
Jamaica. Recently Operation Blessing helped transport new mobile
homes to families in Florida who lost everything Charley and Frances
took away.
“Operation Blessing in itself, as far as a giving organization
in trying to help, has been phenomenal, not just a little bit
of help, not a large amount of help, but phenomenal,” says
a local relief worker Clyde.
Thank you, CBN Partners. Because of your generosity, Operation
Blessing was able to respond immediately, bringing food, water,
and emergency supplies to those devastated by these hurricanes.
It's heart wrenching to watch people who have lost everything,
but together we can make a tremendous impact to help relieve their
suffering. Please
join today.
CBN IS HERE FOR YOU!
Are you seeking answers in life? Are you hurting?
Are you facing a difficult situation?
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
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