In a large meeting room at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Odenton, Maryland, tables are being stocked with supplies that will help those still in need in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene brought devastating flooding last week. Behind this effort is the Rev. Corey Brooks, who has a connection to the areas impacted — he grew up in the foothills of North Carolina.
“It’s really heartbreaking to see the areas that I grew up in, the places that I visited, to see people’s homes washed away, to see the images of whole towns just completely underwater,” Brooks said.
Shortly after the storm, he began organizing a relief drive, and what began as one church’s effort quickly grew to a statewide effort, as other churches, synagogues and other religious institutions began contributing.
“It’s been great to see many people from many different denominational backgrounds, whether it’s the Catholic or Methodist or us as Lutherans or Baptists, the communities just coming together to meet a common need of our brothers and sisters in these disastrous areas,” Brooks said.
Lowes, Home Depot and Ace Hardware stores also made donations to the drive, but Brooks still hopes to bring in even more items.
Brooks said they are asking for specific supplies based on what they are hearing about the immediate needs of people in the impacted areas.
“These are immediate needs that will help people muck out their homes, clean up their homes and also for people who have lost everything. To have about 72 hours worth of immediate hygiene needs to take care of themselves while they continue to get on their feet,” he said.
He said while hearts are in the right place, the information he has received is that donations of clothes are not yet needed at this point.
“What we’re seeing and from friends and family back on the ground in North Carolina, a lot of inundation of supplies and goods, and not enough volunteers to help go through it, especially clothes and stuff like that,” Brooks said.
Brooks’ goal is to assemble and deliver ready-to-distribute five-gallon buckets with cleaning supplies and personal hygiene kits. Brooks said Lutheran church members on the ground have put out the call nationwide that 15,000 flood kits and 18,000 personal hygiene kits are needed, so his focus is to help answer that call.
He also said they plan to take blankets, since as the months get colder, the need for those will grow.
“There are people who are sleeping in tents because they don’t want to leave their land and their property,” he said.
Brooks said he realizes the recovery in North Carolina may take years, so the church plans to continue to help.
“This might be an effort that we work on for the next several months to just make sure that we’re helping everyone who’s been affected by these recent storms,” Brooks said.
Brooks said the first delivery will happen at the end of the month, and the hope is to fill two trailers with them. He also said the deliveries will expand if necessary to other states impacted by natural disasters.
The pastor said they’ll accept donations between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the church located at 8397 Piney Orchard Parkway in Odenton. Anyone with questions about the drive can call the church at (410) 672-3352 or email churchoffice@felcodenton.org.
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