Disaster Response Team seeks donations, volunteers to help Texas flood victims
When disasters strike, the Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team (DRT) is there. From floods to hurricanes, tornadoes and forest fires, DRT members have assisted with clean-up and rebuilding efforts following almost every type of disaster imaginable. “It could be just about anything,” DRT Secretary Charlene Curtin said. “Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, the fires in California; any natural or man-made disaster.”
Team members and equipment are currently in Kerrville, Texas, assisting with clean-up and rebuilding efforts in the Kerr County-area, which was hit by flash floods on July 4. The DRT is also seeking additional volunteers, who are willing to travel to Kerrville and help with clean-up and recovery efforts. “Kerrville is accessible,” Curtin said. “The DRT is going to set up in Kerrville; it’s going to be like a hub, and they’re going to go out to the local communities.”
DRT members will stay at a local church, which has agreed to provide accommodations for volunteers. “The directors were in contact with the local ministers and congregations in Kerrville,” Curtin said. “They’re taking the mobile office, so the local people can register for what they need; building supplies, what was lost and was damaged. They’ll also take the shower trailer; it’s for the survivors and volunteers, so they can take showers as needed.” “The shower trailer and the mobile office are going right away, but DRT also has a laundry trailer, there’s a food trailer, and the tool trailer has all the tools, so when the volunteers come, they’ll have anything they could possibly need,” she said.
Team members recently returned from assisting with clean-up efforts for flood victims in Wheeling, West Virginia, Curtin said. “All the equipment had just come back over the Fourth of July weekend, and now they’re going back out again,” she said. The DRT is currently seeking financial donations and additional volunteers to help with clean-up efforts in Texas, and for other future disasters. “There’s always a need for volunteers,” Curtin said. “We need everyone, young and old, with various physical abilities.”
“Sometimes we need someone to cook, so they stay at the set-up site; sometimes we need someone to do the laundry trailer,” she said. “We can always use more volunteers.” Volunteers can sign-up online, through a special volunteer tab on the DRT website at www.churchesofchristdrt.org. Financial donations can be made online, through PayPal, or checks can also be mailed to the DRT’s office, located at 9285 S. State Route 202 in Tipp City.
“It isn’t practical to take a lot of supplies with us,” Curtin said. “Usually, they just ask for financial donations, and once they’re there in the local area, and they get the assessments from all the homes and families for what they need exactly, then they will buy it there locally.” The DRT was originally started in 1989, Curtin said, and is supported by Churches of Christ.
“The Disaster Response Team is a separate entity,” she said. “It’s not a church, but we’re supported by the various Churches of Christ.” The DRT also operates a store called ReClaimed, located at 2223 Needmore Road in Dayton, which offers donated goods for sale. Profits from the store are used to help support the DRT. “They have couches, beds, baby clothes, adult clothing, tapes and DVDs,” Curtin said. “Everything is sold at the store, and all the profits come back to support the DRT.”
“Everything is cleaned and sterilized and prepared for sale at the ReClaimed store,” she said. “Most of the people who prepare the items are volunteers.” Donations of items for the ReClaimed store are accepted at the DRT’s Tipp City office, Curtin said. “We have donations here,” she said. “It could be an old painting, silverware, nick-nacks, or clothing, we have a wide array of donations.”“They prefer to have them here in Tipp City, because there’s only so much space at the store,” Curtin said.
