6,000 Helping Hands volunteers take on Hurricane Sally

For three weekends since Hurricane Sally made landfall on the Gulf Coast more than 6,000 Helping Hands volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been helping homeowners in Alabama and Florida. 6,030 work orders (1 order = 1 home) have been completed.

Helping Hands volunteers from congregations in Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and Alabama have traveled to command centers at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Daphne, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida. Last weekend alone, 1,705 volunteers drove from Georgia to Pensacola.

For many Helping Hands volunteers who live in the Southeast, providing help to those in need following a disaster has become a part of their lives. “I go two or three times a year,” said one volunteer from Kennesaw who didn’t want to be named. “Whenever there’s a need I am happy to go because people are devastated when a natural disaster strikes, whether it’s a tornado in Carrollton or White, flooding in Powder Springs, or hurricanes in Florida and Louisiana.” He said, “It’s a great feeling just to be able to help people and they are always so grateful.”

The Church of Jesus Christ is often among the first organizations to respond when there is a disaster. Preparation begins about six months ahead of the hurricane season with area welfare specialists planning the operation of command centers and the organization of volunteer work teams.

Once storms form, they are monitored by welfare specialists, then the Church places relief supplies furnished by Latter-day Saint Charities just outside the projected path ready to deploy after the storm passes. Supplies -- including chainsaws, water, generators, tarps, rakes, ladders, and shovels – are stored in large bishops’ storehouses in Tucker just north of Atlanta, as well as in Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina then loaded onto trucks sent to the affected areas.

Last weekend, volunteers arrived in shifts to aid in social distancing. Each brought with them tents and food to sustain themselves. The morning brought work orders to help strangers tarp roofs, remove downed trees and debris, and perform flood remediation.

Among those who travelled to help was Katie Stevenson and her family from Kennesaw. Asked why she and her family volunteered, Katie responded, “It’s hard work and we like that. We enjoy helping others because we’re all brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Benjamin Brooks who serves in the Powder Springs Stake presidency brought his sons, Peter and Joseph, to help with the clean-up effort. One of their work orders took them to the home of Betty Wynne-Ellis who had an evergreen tree in her yard that had been blown over in the storm and was lying halfway in her neighbor’s yard.

“To be honest,” said President Brooks, “this was not one of the more difficult projects we had seen. The tree was not too large, it was not lying on a house, or hung up precariously on another tree like some of the others.” Nonetheless, the encounter left an impression on Brooks and his sons. “We learned she was a retired special educator whose son has Downs Syndrome,” said Brooks. “He brought us cold water and told us he was wearing a Navy shirt because his sister is a medical doctor in the Navy.”

While each work order is different for Helping Hands volunteers, they often express similar feelings about their experiences. Brooks expressed their encounter this way: “It was a privilege to meet Ms. Wynne-Ellis and to serve her amazing family in some small way. These service events can be dirty, tiring and challenging, but I am always uplifted by working together with a good crew and by meeting and serving my brothers and sisters.”

Since 1998, Helping Hands volunteers have helped people worldwide whose lives have been affected by natural disasters and other emergencies. Thousands of Helping Hands volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have assisted communities with cleanup after Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Gustav, Isaac, Matthew, Michael, Florence, Laura, and now Sally.