Farmville Town Manager Gerry Spates and Council member Donald Hunter recently initiated a disaster relief drive for victims of Hurricane Florence in Lumberton, North Carolina.

Dr. James Taylor III, Pastor of Jericho Baptist Church of Farmville, was asked to be the lead pastor in contacting churches and businesses in the Farmville area regarding donations for the drive. Deacon Perry Carrington served as the lead project site coordinator. Prior to collection week, Spates dispatched a crew of maintenance workers with equipment to Lumberton to assist in cleanup of debris and downed trees from damage done by the hurricane and subsequent flooding.

Regarding the collection of items, there were collection points at Jericho Baptist Church and the Town’s Department of Public Works. Local churches, businesses, and citizens of the area donated cleaning supplies, household goods, food, as well as monetary donations. Donations were also received from churches and organizations in the counties of Cumberland, Chesterfield, Powhatan, Buckingham, Amelia, Prince Edward and the city of Richmond. The collection sites received these items from Monday, Oct. 8, to Sunday, Oct. 14. The box truck, nearly full to capacity, was securely packed by town employees and made ready for the journey. Spates joined Taylor and Carrington for the send-off to Lumberton on Thursday morning, Oct. 18.

The truck load of supplies and monetary gifts were transported to Lumberton, North Carolina Lumber River Baptist Association. The items were distributed on-site by the Rev. Dr. Thurman Everette, Moderator of the Association and his staff. Monetary donations of $3,800 in check and $600 in Walmart/Visa Gift cards were also presented to the association for disaster relief. Red Cross representatives were also on-site during the distribution. Dr. Everette related that this was a huge donation and so meaningful to the critical needs within the community. He indicated trying to serve senior citizens that were handicapped was a real challenge, and the monetary donations allowed much flexibility to address their needs. It was reported by Taylor and Carrington that most of the conditions that they encountered were deplorable. Most of the homes and buildings had the walls gutted because of the mold. However, there were about 80-plus residents gathered to receive the items delivered, and many more joined the lines.

Dr. Everette, staff and residents expressed their gracious thanks to Spates and other town leaders and the citizens of the Town of Farmville, area churches and all those connected in this outreach of love and blessings bestowed upon their area in such a critical time of need.