The mission of Florida Baptist Disaster Relief and Recovery Ministries is to “Make a difference in times of disaster” by connecting Florida Baptist churches and associations with people and communities affected by the disaster and responding with help, healing, and hope that demonstrate and share the love of Christ. Volunteers from the Southern Texas Baptist Convention (SBTC) are preparing hot meals in their mobile kitchen in the McGregor Baptist parking lot. John Robertson, one of the SBDR's main volunteers in the SBTC kitchen and a member of the Flint Baptist Church in Flint, Texas, said they meet a person's physical needs. Nine SBDR kitchens in Southwest Florida have formed several SBDR teams from different states.
Donations must be delivered to the Beauregard Baptist Association office at 735 West Drive in DeRidder. According to the Florida Baptist Convention, FBC Naples is one of nine Southern Baptist disaster relief centers that serve hot meals and provide cleaning and recovery assistance. As SBDR volunteers who collaborated with Florida Baptists ventured to the coast to help homeowners, they heard heartbreaking stories of people who had weathered the storm. Harmon serves as a mission pastor at McGregor Baptist Church in Fort Myers, helping to coordinate the various response initiatives that the church currently supports.
This includes hosting a team of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers, accepting and distributing clothing donations, and managing a network of members who meet the needs of others in the community. In any response, the CBF will work with state and regional organizations, the federal emergency management agency, national disaster volunteer organizations (VOAD), as well as other local and national partners, including friends of the North American Baptist Fellowship. Donations to Send Relief are providing essential relief supplies and resources to Southern Baptist disaster relief teams across Southwest Florida. Drawing inspiration from cleaning kits promoted by disaster response agencies such as UMCOR (United Methodists) and the World Church Service in response to floods and other disasters, Disaster Response now invites CBF churches to participate in a similar initiative. In keeping with CBF's focus on long-term impact, CBF's disaster response engages in networks that seek to help communities after a devastating event, but it employs most of its resources on the long-term recovery, rehabilitation, and resilience of a community once first responders have finished their work.
