July of 2022 was a hard time for those of Eastern Kentucky as heavy rains caused mass amounts of flash flooding and devastation.
Among the survivors was one of Union County’s very own, Sarah Morgan, but along with Morgan were many others that needed help as well. Hitting close to home, many Union County community members rallied together to help our neighboring state out.
Only days after the natural disaster, a group of Union County 4-Hers made a trip to Kentucky in hopes of helping a least one person and touching one heart with love and compassion.
"Helping others is what we are supposed to do," Elijah Helton said. "We are our brother's keeper."
The natural disaster caused homes, cars, and buildings to be washed away leaving many families’ lives upside down.
Elizabeth Tindell, a local 4-H mother in the community and the volunteer organizer, traveled with three adults and eight teens to Kentucky. The volunteers stayed for three days and worked 12 to 14 hours a day.
While there, they removed items and debris from homes and basements that were washed in by the flood. Along with residence homes, they worked at the settlement school, a resource and housing center.
The 4-Hers and volunteers also helped in donation centers with meals, cleaning, and helping flood victims with getting items they needed to get them back on their feet. This is where they would spend time getting to know the victims and hearing their stories.
“My favorite part of this trip was being able to impact people’s lives by helping them clean up the flood damage, handing out Bibles and gift cards to each flood victim,” Jeremiah Tindell said.
Many families that were visited expressed their gratitude that a group of young people would step up and serve them in this kind of way.
“The entire group was greatly impacted by the devastation we saw at every turn in KY,” Tindell said. “Our group loved being able to have contact with the homeowners at each job.”
Some of the volunteers that traveled to Kentucky also traveled to Waverly, TN last year to help with flood damages there. While the group had experience with cleaning up natural disasters, the state of Kentucky was a bit worse with some houses having over 17 inches of water and mud in them at the beginning of the clean-up process.
When the group of volunteers arrived, it was down to 3-5 inches, but there were still serve damages as there were a number of mudslides throughout the three counties they worked in. These mudslides caused sewage systems to flow into surrounding neighborhood homes ultimately adding more to clean up.
After the Union County community heard that there was a group going to Eastern Kentucky, they wasted no time getting supplies and donations together. With over 1,500 donations of toiletries, tools and other items needed as well as approximately $6,000 the group was set to go.
“We are so thankful for our community of Union County that rallied around our team and supported us,” Tindell said. “With your support, we were able to make a big impact in those towns of KY.”
The group asks that community members continue to pray for those affected by the floods as cleanup efforts will continue for months if not years.
Tindell encourages community members to consider helping in their own way, whether that be making a trip to Kentucky to offer physical help or sending donations of any kind.
“Although it was very sad to see so many people’s lives affected by the flood, it was encouraging to see their resilience and a privilege to get to help in a small way,” Meradeth Whitley said.