Contact: Mike Tilley, Thomas Road Baptist Church, 404-414-9258

 

LYNCHBURG, Va., July 4, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC) begins its fifth day of around-the-clock humanitarian relief efforts for the citizens of central Virginia. The church opened its doors within ten hours of an overnight major east coast storm, and the resulting widespread power outages, that caused havoc for hundreds of thousands this past weekend.

 

"Our church staff and more than 450 volunteers have rallied together to provide a comprehensive relief center on the church campus," stated Jonathan Falwell, senior pastor. "We are offering water, ice, meals, overnight sleeping areas, medical services, shower facilities, cooling areas and even a section for pets."

 

In the first four days, Thomas Road has worked hand-in-hand with several ministry partners to distribute:

 

*400,000 bottles of water

*30,000 bottles of Gatorade

*10,000 large bags of ice

 

In addition, Thomas Road has hosted a 24/7 cooling center with 3,500 individuals participating. The church has provided meals to 2,500 people in the past four days.

 

"I met with my team early Saturday morning to map out our relief efforts," stated Pastor Falwell. "We put together a solid plan and our people have been incredible. I am so thankful for Thomas Road members. Many of our volunteers are also dealing with personal challenges that have resulted from the storms and power outages, yet they are here to help others in need. It's a wonderful picture of the love of Christ."

 

With the dangerous combination of power outages and extreme heat, TRBC opened its doors Saturday as a cooling center. All three TRBC campuses (Lynchburg, Danville & Roanoke) responded by opening facilities for those without electricity.

 

Our main campus was host to 1,500 people during the 48 hours with nearly 500 staying overnight Sunday night. Guests were able to enjoy the air conditioning and electricity, taking advantage of one of our four sleeping centers.

 

As a joint venture between Thomas Road and our ministry partner Gleaning For The World, we were able to begin distributing water bottles and personal care items immediately. The Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, Liberty University, God's Pitt Crew and The Virginia Department of Emergency Services joined with TRBC to supply community members with much-needed ice and related disaster-relief services.

 

Late Monday afternoon, the City of Lynchburg announced that "anyone with a medical condition or special needs who needs shelter, should report to the shelter located at Thomas Road Baptist Church." The Thomas Road shelter "has medical staff available who are prepared to assist individuals with mild medical conditions." This was put together by TRBC in partnership with Centra Health.

 

The TRBC Relief Center will remain open for as long as necessary. If you would like to partner with us in meeting the needs of central Virginia, you can donate right now at trbc.org/support/online-giving.   

 

 

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