Tornado Relief Updates
The following is a press release from the Community Crisis Coalition.
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Emergency relief continues for those effected by the tornado. It opens to the public at 11:30am today at 600 Tuscan Ave. Today's relief effort include the following:
Food Assistance. Again today we can serve about 2,500-3,500 meals FREE of charge to families in the effected area(s), first responders, volunteers, students, workers, and anyone who is assisting in the recovering aspects of this relief effort. Today we have 3 restaurants, 1 church, and 1 non-profit organization. 1 restaurant and 1 church will bbq today.
Water. We have cases of water for families in need of water. We also have limited gatorade and jugs of water as well.
Dry Food. We have dry food including dog/cat food available such as can goods and other foods that are not cooked including baby food.
Clothing. We have a literally 1,000's of pieces of clothing from baby clothing to adult men and women including shoes. We also have 100's of new blankets.
Supplies. We have restocked again today on emergency items. This includes cleaning supplies, hygiene supplies, toiletries, etc.
Tree & Debri Removal. Anyone who needs anything removed, repaired, such as tarps on roofs, trees out of yard, etc can come and sign up and we have crews who will remove such from the yards, homes, etc. (PLEASE DO NOT PAY OUT OF POCKET WORKERS TO DO YARD WORK!)
The Community Crisis Coalition, 50-100 different organizations, churches, schools, companies, individual(s), families, 1,000's of volunteers, continue to operate at 600 Tuscan Ave (New Testament Church) as our headquarters to service the emergency need of our community. Everyday since the tornado has hit, we've had people from literally around the world come in to support this relief effort in the heart of the disaster. We feed over 20,000 meals so far, given 1,000's of supplies including clothing and cases of water and have served countless homes as people are either referred by The City of Hattiesburg and others and will continue to do so.
Our efforts will continue through the weekend and next week as well. Everyday, we continue to expand our network to more and more organizations, businesses, churches, schools, etc who choose to directly help the community by working directly with the community and its community leaders. Volunteers have been moved by the compassion and personal experiences they witness each and every day. We definitely welcome more volunteers and help as well.
Currently, we've turned 1,000's of people away literally who wanted to contribute financially as we saw a greater need for supplies and food instead of monetary assistance for victims immediate needs. We've been encouraging people to give to other entities who are solely interested in raising money. We've been overjoyed however that most people instead offered to simply go buy supplies and bring them to our relief operation to immediately help those effected.
