A Hub for Harvey Relief

LA GRANGE, Texas — Days after Hurricane Harvey, La Grange Church of Christ volunteers dressed in lime green disaster relief T-shirts fill pickup beds with shovels, cases of bottled water and boxes of cleaning supplies. Deacons Ted Bell and Paul Vogel — both retired police officers — and 11-year-old Landon Von Minden drive a black, 4-by-4 truck into a devastated mobile home park. Stacks of debris and tree limbs line the roadway.

Red X’s painted on the sides of twisted structures identify the date when firefighters checked for survivors or victims and the number found. Bell and Vogel introduce themselves to residents digging through belongings and ask if they can use any food, diapers or supplies.

“It’s the least we could do to try to help. God bless,” Bell tells a victim who voices appreciation for the gesture. “They’re letting everybody come in and take out what they can,” Vogel explains. “Then they’re going to tear everything out with a bulldozer.” The record-breaking rains brought by Harvey washed away a big chunk of this Texas town of 4,600.

When the Colorado River overflowed its banks, more than 350 homes were destroyed in the community between Austin and Houston, said Scott Elliott, minister for the La Grange Church of Christ. But with the tragedy came an opportunity to show the love of Jesus, Elliott said: The church immediately became La Grange’s donation hub.

“Our building has filled to capacity with donated items and volunteers,” Laura Elliott, the preacher’s wife, wrote on Facebook a few days after the storm. “It’s an amazing sight to behold. Every pew in the auditorium is also filled with donated and sorted items as well as every classroom and hallway.”

Read more at https://christianchronicle.org/in-a-small-texas-town-a-church-of-christ-becomes-a-hub-for-harvey-relief/