Last fall, several Flood Buckets were put together by five churches (CTK, Southgate; Trinity, Wyandotte; St. Paul/Connection, Trenton; Calvary, Lincoln Park). Those buckets were put to use on May 9.
Paul Rogers from Trinity, Utica’s LERT* Team headed up the efforts to deliver the buckets to an area in need in Detroit that is still being cleaned up from flooding last year. The bucket supplies help to make certain areas of homes livable again. LERT has been working with local state agencies and they reached out to Trinity to request the assistance. Here is Rogers’ account:
A delivery of 50 buckets was made to those in need last Friday in a Detroit neighborhood.
I want to thank Pastor Jason and Dale from Christ the King, Southgate for their response to the request for help. Thanks also to Dale for helping me load 50 buckets into my pickup. I wasn’t certain they would all fit. But God provided!
As I arrived at the chosen drop-off point, the neighborhood people immediately began showing up to obtain buckets. Parents sent teenage boys to help me unload. By the time we unloaded all 50, 24 buckets were already gone. The people there were very appreciative of God’s blessing to them.
I explained to the VOAD Region 2 secretary/treasurer, Mary Lloyd, how difficult it is currently to obtain some components needed to build new buckets. She asked that I send her a list of contents. She will see if she can’t assist in getting items donated to us.
Here are two pictures from individuals who I met during the delivery. A man named Jay, in one picture, picked up 10 buckets to be delivered to his neighbors in need. The woman in the other picture is the neighborhood association president and president of a community home building project on the site where the buckets where delivered.
*Lutheran Early Response Team
The Michigan District LERT leaders are also asking congregations/ministries in the Michigan District to consider assembling Flood Buckets and Hygiene Kits (PDF format). This PDF explains more about the buckets/kits and how you can support our efforts. This could be a project for your families to either do at home or gather materials for assembling them when we are able to gather together in smaller groups. We have several organizations in our state that are in need of these buckets/kits.
We currently have volunteers who are able to pick up assembled buckets/kits the third week in June. Please contact Bruce Collins (bscollins27@gmail.com) to let him know the number of buckets/kits you will have available for pick-up. If you have questions, you can email Bruce or Travis Grulke at travis.grulke@michigandistrict.org.
Photos courtesy of Paul Rogers
