NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – More help is on the way from Middle Tennessee to parts of eastern Kentucky devastated by flooding.
Five trucks of supplies were filled Monday morning by volunteers at Churches of Christ Disaster Relief in Nashville. Organizers said trucks sent over the weekend were emptied to help people in need within just a few hours.
The army of volunteers worked to pack 1,500 food boxes that can last a family of four for up to a week.
“These will be supplies they don’t even know they need,” Shane Carlton said. “People are in shock. They don’t have a clue what they need, but Disaster Relief knows, and they send what is needed.”
Carlton said she began volunteering after seeing the difference a simple box of supplies can make to someone who has lost everything after the Waverly flood.
She was part of the group of church members from across the region who formed an assembly line to ensure that each box was stocked with jars of peanut butter, canned vegetables and ready to prepare meals.
In addition to food, the kits contain essential items such as toothpaste and cutlery to help people get back to feeling normal after possibly losing everything.
Thomas Peak drove more than an hour to volunteer because his hometown outside Prestonburg, Kentucky, was destroyed in the flood. He wanted to give back to his friends and family through the boxes of food.
“They’ve lost everything,” Peak said. “They don’t know where to turn, where to go, because everything they had and everything they owned was gone. Their home, their livelihood is not there now. They are in a daze. It’s going to be several days, several weeks, several months before they even understand the magnitude of what’s going on because they’re in a frenzy trying to figure out what to do.”
Peak said he’s worried things will only get worse with more rain affecting the hardest-hit areas, but he’s thankful so many people came out to help his neighbors.
Other volunteers were inspired by Peak and his message, including B.J. Sullivan. He said he cleared his calendar to help pack the food boxes and hopes more people in his church will continue to do something different for the people hurt by the flooding.
“We can go back to our community and maybe spur someone to help even more,” Sullivan said. “Maybe there are 1,500 more boxes somewhere that someone wants to donate and send out. All you have to do is want.”
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