Friday, June 08, 2007

BE PREPARED

Tornadoes seem to be all around us this year and it sounds like hurricanes could be coming our way as well. Please help us (and you) to be prepared.

We've been receiving an excellent response from many of you approving our request to use your parking lots as a staging site should a disaster occur in your area and we thank you. We still need MANY, MANY more of you in the following states as well as the states we haven't heard from yet. So far we've heard from:
ALABAMA
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
KENTUCKY
MISSOURI
NORTH CAROLINA
OKLAHOMA
SOUTH CAROLINA
TENNESSEE
VIRGINIA

If you haven't emailed to let us know your congregation is willing to allow us to use your parking lot as a staging area should a disaster occur in your area, please consider it. It is a wonderful outreach and really helps to have things in place "BEFORE" a disaster happens. We need the final approval to be from an elder of the congregation though, the only exception would be if you don't have elders at this time.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

MMMM.....MMMMM.....GOOD!!!! :)

The mobile kitchen has kept us busy here in Greensburg, Kansas. We've served approx. 4500 meals. The elders of the Mullinville Church of Christ have taken time during the lunch hours to come and meet with those that eat with us. Sitting and talking, mainly listening with an understanding ear. The kitchen is a wonderful outreach ministry. We've had visits here at worship service and have a Bible study set up.
There is a lot of work that goes into the kitchen work and we've had many volunteers helping. To all of you that have spent countless hours....and there have been many, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!! I'd like to say a special THANK YOU to LARRY for teaching me SO MUCH about the kitchen!!! Larry used to cook in the Army among other places and I learned so much from him. You ALL helped tremendously and it could not have taken place without ALL OF YOU!!!

Many think that when you have "free food" at a disaster area you get hot dogs, sandwiches, etc. we feel that it is very important for those that have been through a disaster to have a well balanced home cooked meal. Here is a list of just a few of the items on our menu that we've served over the last couple of weeks.

French Chicken (Chicken & Rice)
Green Beans
Mixed Fruit
Salad
Roll
Dessert
Drink

Baked Spaghetti
Hominy or Green Beans
Baked Potatoes
Fruit
Roll
Dessert
Drink

Grilled Chicken
Corn
Fried Potatoes
Salad
Roll
Dessert
Drink

Fresh Kansas Beef Cheeseburgers w/
Lettuce/tomato/onion
baked beans
Macaroni & Cheese
Mixed Fruit
Roll
Dessert
Drink

Swiss Chicken
Lima Beans
Homemade Mashed Potatoes
Salad
Dessert
Roll

Drink

Double Cheese Meatloaf
Baked Potatoes
Corn/Green Beans
Salad
Roll
Dessert
Drink

Enchiladas
Refried Beans
Rice
Salad
Roll
Dessert
Drink

Saturday, June 02, 2007

2007 HURRICANE SEASON

I decided to be the only person who didn't mention the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season yesterday. :) However......there always seems to be a however doesn't there??! :) The 2007 hurricane season did begin yesterday and we have now already had 2 named storms. If the forecasters are correct we have another 15 named storms to go.

****This brings me to something we'd like to discuss with you. ******

We are looking for congregations of the Church of Christ who will give us advance approval to use your parking lot as a staging area for our equipment should a disaster occur in your area. We are a 1st Response Organization and need to be "on the ground" immediately following a disaster. Many times following a disaster cell phone towers are down and it is basically difficult to get in touch with all the elders, etc. in a congregation to make this decision immediately. If this approval is given in advance we can come in immediately and reach out to those affected. We are completely self-contained and all we need is the use of a portion of the parking lot. This response can be done by email, however it must be done by an elder of the congregation.
While no one wants a disaster in their town, disaster relief is very helpful to the members after a disaster and is a very effective way to reach the lost in the community.