A team of seven North Pacific Union volunteers trained in warehouse management and disaster response recently joined forces with local and national organizations in Augusta, Georgia, to coordinate a major relief effort for the community.
In collaboration with Georgia-Cumberland Conference and the City of Augusta, the team set up a warehouse, along with local volunteers, to manage urgently needed donations, providing crucial resources to area residents affected by recent hurricane events.
Additional Adventist Community Services teams joined in efforts to help with both Hurricanes Helene and Milton responses across the southeastern part of the U.S.
“Please keep us in your prayers, as the work is just beginning and will go on for months and months,” said W. Derrick Lea, North American Division Adventist Community Services and Disaster Response executive director, in one of his early situation reports. “We understand this will be a long-term recovery effort and are securing names of conferences and [trained] volunteers who are interested in helping in the future.”
The logistics behind an operation of this scale are demanding, requiring both careful planning and resources. The City of Augusta provided the ACS team with a warehouse, forklifts, pallet jacks, garbage bins and other essential supplies.
Even with the city’s support, unexpected challenges arose. At the warehouse, for example, two semitruck trailers of donated goods awaited unloading, but a missing dock plate for the forklifts delayed the process of offloading the pallets of goods.
In an inspiring show of solidarity, Team Rubicon — a veteran-led humanitarian organization that serves global communities before, during and after disasters — stepped in to lend their support to the ACS team.
Ten Team Rubicon members joined the effort, offering their expertise and efficiency to help unload 24 pallets of water and other donated supplies from the two 53-inch trailers. The partnership exemplified how organizations can join forces to respond to communities in need.
After completing the unloading, volunteers from both organizations shared a moment to connect and learn more about each other’s backgrounds, missions and shared commitment to service. Just as the NPUC team had come from Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Upper Columbia Conferences, Team Rubicon volunteers traveled from across the country, all united by a common goal: to serve those in need.
As the first month of recovery efforts concluded, ACS team members heard emerging needs for long-term rebuilding efforts from residents in Valdosta and Douglass, Georgia, many of whom do not have insurance or were told insurance would not be able to cover their loss.
“[Our ACS Team] were able to identify homes that had been damaged and needed repair to ensure livability. A plan is in place to ensure a safe environment for those affected. This is all at no cost to the homeowner,” Lea said. “We are forming relationships that will spread seeds throughout the neighborhoods where our churches sit.”
