Since Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina, you have been so generous with your time, talent, and treasure to ensure that an effort has been made to rescue and begin to repair the communities from this terrible disaster. We are continuing to stay connected to the community to understand the evolving most critical needs. It will be a long road to recovery for the impacted communities. We will let you know when the next round of supply donations begin and when ready for volunteers to travel to WNC to help with distribution and recovery work.
When the hurricane hit, Cross Assembly 'adopted' a local church in need, Crossroads church, that had been flooded by the storms. In partnership with Crossroads, God has been working miracles to multiply our efforts to serve and assist the hardest hit WNC communities. During the month of October, Cross Assembly sent out teams to assist in disaster relief covering approx 25 days of the month. The generosity of church members provided 4 large truck loads of critical supplies, AND manpower to contribute to the much needed distribution of relief, and direct assistance in flood recovery. Our church has donated over $100k in financial support, more than half of which has already been sent in direct assistance of the disaster recovery. Because of you, we have accomplished these goals:
When the hurricane hit, Cross Assembly 'adopted' a local church in need, Crossroads church, that had been flooded by the storms. In partnership with Crossroads, God has been working miracles to multiply our efforts to serve and assist the hardest hit WNC communities. During the month of October, Cross Assembly sent out teams to assist in disaster relief covering approx 25 days of the month. The generosity of church members provided 4 large truck loads of critical supplies, AND manpower to contribute to the much needed distribution of relief, and direct assistance in flood recovery. Our church has donated over $100k in financial support, more than half of which has already been sent in direct assistance of the disaster recovery. Because of you, we have accomplished these goals:
- Provide support and leadership to walk with, encourage, and assist Crossroads church leaders in the days after disaster to ensure long term recovery of church.
- Provide expertise, equipment, and labor to assist with initial stages of church building recovery, to get it dried from flooding and ready to rebuild.
- Collect disaster relief donations, and establish Crossroads church as a supplies distribution center for the surrounding impacted communities.
- Directly serve the impacted communities by distributing supplies, and physically helping residents with flood recovery work. (Chainsaw work, mucking out homes and structures, clearing debris, sheetrock & flooring removal, etc).
Below is timeline of Cross Assembly's disaster relief efforts in Western North Carolina:
- 9/27- Hurricane Helene hits WNC
- 9/29- Cross Assembly decides to initiate Disaster Relief Efforts
- 9/30- Disaster Relief fund announced, and financial and supplies donations begin.
- 10/2- 10/5 First advance team sent to Asheville to visit Crossroads church and begin assessment of needs. 4 days on the ground.
- 10/3 - First full box truck of essential supplies delivered to Crossroads Church in Asheville.
- 10/5-10/12: Mission Team of 15+ men from Cross Assembly Departs for Asheville, fully loaded with tools and supplies to begin recovery. Team spends eight days on the ground. First focusing on church building recovery, then shifting focus to delivering supplies and directly assisting communities and residents in dire need.
- 10/7: Second full box truck of donated supplies delivered to Asheville. By this point Crossroads is becoming a supplies distribution hub with donations coming daily from many sources. Supplies are then taken to other smaller communities where needs are known.
- 10/14: Third full truck of donated essential supplies delivered to Asheville.
- 10/16-10/19: Mission team of 6+ men from Cross Assembly Benson departs for Asheville to serve the church & community.
- 10/23-10/26: Mission team of 6+ men from Cross Assembly organize an independent trip to Crossroads church to serve the community.
- 10/24 Fourth box truck full supplies sent to Asheville. This delivery focused on much needed cold weather supplies. (Heaters, fuel, sleeping bags, etc)
- 10/26-10/30: Mission team of 8 departs to Asheville to serve surrounding communities.
We are assessing the needs of our next phase and will communicate those needs in the next couple of weeks. If you have questions you can email [email protected] or call our office at 919.781.3249.