Having gone through their own flood experience in May, Salem and Washington County residents are getting together to help those in Houston who have faced flooding on a grand scale – being inundated with millions of gallons of water and having 100,000 homes destroyed.
Tony Mendizabel, minister of Mt. Tabor Church along with the church’s youth minister, Luke Wenger have banded together with other church members to reach out to the community to seek help for those in Texas.
“Our church has taken monitory donations to International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES) and I came up with the idea of taking donations. I thought since we had went through the flood, people might want to send items to Texas. It’s gone fast,” said Kristine Neff Shetler, a member of Mt. Tabor.
Here’s a list of the supplies they’re asking for:
Diapers, baby wipes, baby items, clothing, undergarments, medical supplies, toiletries, paper towels, bleach, inflatable air mattresses, non-perishable food items, and bottled water.
For more information, contact Tony (219-477-8669) or Kristine (812-896-2212) to schedule a drop off.
1) Pray. Pray for those affected, the first responders, and those who are coordinating relief.
2) Monetary Support. Mount Tabor is directing all donations to IDES. We will be taking up a special offering on September 10th or you can go to ides.org and donate today.
3) Bottled Water. Drop off bottled water to the church. If nobody is here just leave it outside the doors.
“We are working with Southern Hills Church and Pekin United Methodist Church on a second trip that will be coming up. There’s more to come out of this,” said Shelter. “We’d like all items to be at Mt. Tabor by 6p Friday,” said Shetler.
“There’s a lot that they need,” she added on WSLM’s Coffee Club show this morning. “I wanted to make sure we took the right things and not the wrong things because I didn’t want to be told we can’t bring this. I contacted the Mayor’s office, which directed me to Feeding Texas. A lady there named Julie is coordinating the food banks in that area. All items donated will go to the food banks. Anybody there helping give relief will get the supplies they need and take them to the disaster areas.”
The community is working together to get items into the church’s hands before this weekend and will be collecting more items to send down on Sept. 10.
Here is a list of collection points and what businesses are doing:
The YMCA is also collecting for Mt. Tabor. Items will be picked up by 5pm, Friday Sept. 1st
All IN Pediatrics are collecting diapers for adults and children as well as wipes. Collections will end Wednesday, Sept. 6th. All IN Pediatrics is located at 1025 N. Jim Day Rd. in Salem.
New Hope United Methodist Church and Southern Hills Church are collecting hygiene kits with include hand towels, wash cloths, combs, nail clippers, toothbrush, bandaids, etc. For a complete list of the exact items needed, please call New Hope UMC at 812-883-2569 or SHC at 812-883-1637. All donations must be dropped off at New Hope UMC by 7pm on Tuesday, Sept. 5th. New Hope UMC is located at 4957 W. State Rd 60 in Salem.
Walmart-Salem- Walmart is doing a money campaign drive with The American Red Cross Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund starting today thru Sept. 6th. Anyone can donate through the registers any amount they want to give. All money will go 100% to this fund through the American Red Cross.
Amber’s Dance Studio- is collecting dance supplies for studios. They are also doing shirts.
Salem and West Washington Community Schools are joining with Orleans Community Schools and Mt. Tabor Christian Church to send supplies to the flood victims in Houston.
Items must be dropped off at Salem High School by 3pm, tomorrow, Friday September 1st. A trailer will be leaving to take the items down this Saturday morning
Salem City Hall and the Washington County Courthouse will also be collecting items to be taken to Houston.
