We’re coming up on two weeks since devastating storms and tornadoes came through Little Rock, Central Arkansas, and surrounding states. Almost immediately, so many friends of Ferncliff reached out to offer their time and talents to support us and those impacted. As you can imagine, we’ve been keeping very busy in the Disaster Assistance Center…

In and amongst our work for our immediate community here in Little Rock, the DAC has also continued to send requested resources across the country. In the past two weeks, we’ve shipped supplies to Colorado, California, Texas, and Tennessee. As for our work for Arkansas, on Friday, April 7th, a group of volunteers from Boy Scout Troop 30 visited to work on Gift of the Heart kits. This one group inspected and packed over 500 kits! This past Monday, a group of volunteers from Second Presbyterian Church and Christ Community Church added over 400 more to that count. Youth from the Presbytery of Arkansas, Presbyterian Women from across the state, and a group of students from Lyon College will also be volunteering their time in the coming weeks.

On Tuesday, June 11th, a few members of our staff loaded up our trusty box truck (lovingly named Boxanne) to deliver ten pallets of disaster assistance supplies to New Hope Baptist Church in North Little Rock. The delivery included flood clean-up buckets, hygiene kits, and toothpaste. We were so happy to hear that New Hope will be delivering these supplies directly to Wynne, AR to help aid in their ongoing disaster relief.

The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that, within the Body of Christ, “If one member suffers, all suffer together.” We have felt this sentiment deeply over the last two weeks. Of all the many things we’ve learned in the midst of this and the difficulty it has brought, it has also been a vivid reminder that we are absolutely not alone. To begin to respond to needs, it has taken all of the many different members of all of the many different communities around us coming together; Boy Scout troops, Presbyterian churches, Baptist churches, college students, parents, kids, and more! We’re so grateful for not just the folks who have come to volunteer, but all of those who have donated the financial resources to make this Disaster Assistance ministry possible. If you would like to donate to Ferncliff’s Disaster Assistance Center, you can do so by clicking here. If you’re able to gather Gift of the Heart kits wherever you are, please do so! You can learn more about kit packing by clicking here.