from Week of Compassion
Even as Week of Compassion responds to urgent needs from Hurricane Ida in southeast Louisiana, recovery is still ongoing in southwest Louisiana from Hurricanes Laura and Delta (2020). Our commitment to support communities through every stage of rebuilding involves facilitating volunteer opportunities in places where long-term recovery is underway.
Our partners in southwest Louisiana have found ways to support survivors and host volunteers, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple subsequent disasters.
Rev. Ronny Nowell of FCC Rogers, Arkansas, recently led a volunteer group to the area and shares a word about his experience and the incredible need for volunteers:
Youth and adults from 4 Disciples churches in Northwest Arkansas traveled to southwest Louisiana to help with ongoing recovery work in the Sulphur and Lake Charles Area. The need in this area is still overwhelming. Hurricanes Delta and Laura, followed by the ice storm [in Feb. of 2021], and most recently the floods in May of 2021 have all left this area in great need. The people we met were so thankful. Over and over they thanked us for being there saying, “We thought everyone had forgotten about us!”…Disciples have a great presence in the area, and FCC Sulphur was gracious enough to house us for the week. God worked through us as we served and through the wonderful people we met along the way.
The pandemic remains a fluid situation, with regional spikes in cases, new variants, and continued risks and uncertainties, so in-person volunteer opportunities may not be suitable for everyone at this time. Currently, Week of Compassion requires that all volunteers who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine do so before serving.
For more information, complete the Volunteer Interest Form or contact Associate Director for Domestic Disaster Response, Caroline Hamilton-Arnold at [email protected]