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Church helps families living paycheck-to-paycheck after Wilma

Nov. 11, 2005

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Nancy E. Johnson*

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (UMNS) - An assembly line formed in the four-bay
garage of United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches. Flood buckets
filled with supplies passed from one hand to the next.

"Just keep swinging," volunteers called.

The high winds and heavy rains Hurricane Wilma brought Oct. 24 are gone,
but the devastation remains. In Palm Beach County, hundreds of thousands
of people lost power. Many have been turning to ministries and churches
such as the United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches for help.

"It's the ones who live paycheck to paycheck, and they can't go back to
work because work is gone or doesn't need them - those are the ones that
are really hurting and depend on us to get by," said the Rev. David
McEntire, pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches.

The West Palm Beach church is one of many United Methodist congregations
in the denomination's Florida Annual (regional) Conference responding to
the disaster - in many cases as they recover from the storm themselves.
Members have left their own desperate situations behind and volunteered
to help others.

For some, that has meant doing kitchen duty. On a Saturday afternoon
nearly a week after the storm hit, the aroma of chicken, rice and
jambalaya filled the fellowship hall. It was the first hot meal many of
the hurricane survivors had eaten in a long time.

"A lady came in to eat a meal. She was standing in line crying,"
McEntire said. "She said she'd been eating crackers for four days. She
was dressed nice and looked like she should have the wherewithal to do
it, but she ran out of food."

The church served more than a thousand hot meals that day. Volunteers
filled 500 bags with nonperishable food for families. Angela Ligonde is
a Riviera Beach resident who stopped by to feed her family.

"No grocery stores are open in Riviera. There's no power. We have
nothing," Ligonde said. "I have five kids, so anything I can get to help
my kids helps."

Winford Wilhoit lives in a mobile home at Lakeside of the Palm Beaches.
He showed up at the church for a hot meal. He reported that Wilma
flattened at least 75 of the 300 mobile homes in his community but
spared his.

"Some of the older homes, (Wilma) just split them open like a can
opener. Some people ain't got nothing. ... But I appreciate the help,"
Wilhoit said.

A quick drive through the Palm Beaches revealed a community ravaged by
Wilma. At Christian Manor nursing home, the storm peeled off the roof
and crushed two cars in the parking lot. The nursing home lost power for
five days, so United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches prepared meals
for the 125 residents.

The church building suffered only minor damage, with a few tiles coming
off the roof, but next door, Wilma demolished City Furniture's warehouse
showroom. McEntire believes his church was spared for a reason.

"The utilities at our church were turned on by the second day in
Frances, Jeanne and now Wilma. That's unusual, but it allowed us to get
up and running to help people," McEntire said.

Church teams are putting tarps on damaged homes and clearing fallen
trees, and members distributed clothes left over from a rummage sale to
needy families.

Donna Luther is a church volunteer who's been unloading trucks and
serving meals. "We have no power, so we can sit at home and do nothing
or (we can) help," she said.

Church member Luciana Dearaujo is also using his talents to serve. His
construction job is on hold because of the storm's aftermath, but he has
volunteered to cut trees and clear branches. He believes the relief
effort at United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches is a blessing for
those who need the help and those who give it.

"When people come looking for help, they help my spirit," Dearaujo said.
"It gives me the amazing feeling of serving. It makes me feel good."

People interested in helping with recovery and cleanup can contact the
Florida Annual Conference's Storm Recovery Center at (800) 282-8011,
Ext. 149, or stormrecovery@flumc.org.

Donations can be sent to the United Methodist Committee on Relief and
designated for UMCOR Advance No. 982523, "Hurricanes 2005 Global."
Contributions can be made online at http://www.methodistrelief.org, at
local churches or by phone at (800) 554-8583. Checks given at local
churches should be made payable to the local church. Contributions
mailed to UMCOR at P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068 should be made
payable to UMCOR.

*Johnson is a Florida-based, freelance television and print journalist.
This story was provided by e-Review Florida United Methodist News
Service.

News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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