Convoy of Hope Concludes Florida Relief
''It's been a long two months. Our focus in Florida was an immediate response to the disasters, providing necessities to victims''
After two grueling months of providing immediate hurricane relief to Floridians, the Assemblies of God (A/G)’s Convoy of Hope (COH) team and truck returned to their home base in Springfield, Missouri, October 5.
"Our focus in Florida was an immediate response to the disasters, providing necessities to victims," said Senior Director of Administration David Moore.
Since the slew of Hurricanes (Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne) hit the peninsular state, Convoy of Hope distributed 169 truck loads of relief supplies and distributed over 6.5 million pounds of supplies to the needy.
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According to Jeff Nene, Convoy’s media director, the COH served nearly 300,000 people with the assistance of nearly 3,400 volunteers.
"Many churches and organizations picked up products from us as well to distribute to various neighborhoods and to other disaster responders," Nene said.
Nene explained, however, that the volunteers’ hard work did not go unnoticed.
"Three of us got to meet President Bush last week in Florida -- it was a pretty awesome experience," Nene said. "He met privately with representatives from several faith-based compassion organizations, to thank them for their efforts in helping the storm-stricken people of Florida. We also got to meet with his brother, Governor [Jeb] Bush."
The volunteers will be meeting again next week to assess the work of the COH. Moore explained that the staff members are “exhausted after weeks of working unbelievable hours in difficult conditions.”
"We'll be getting together next week to debrief and to try to figure out ways to help recoup our depleted warehouse supplies and finances,” said Moore.
In addition to the Florida outreach, Moore said COH sent containers of relief supplies to Grenada, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands since August 13. Along with relief efforts, COH also held eight outreaches, including in Ogden, Utah; Janesville, Wisconsin; Lockport, New York; Honduras; Springfield, Missouri; Flint, Michigan; Cibecue, Arizona; Irving, Texas; and Rockford, Illinois.
"It's been a long two months," said Moore.
However, according to Moore, COH will be continuing its efforts elsewhere.
"This weekend we have an outreach in Caracas, Venezuela, and next week in Fort Worth, Texas," Moore says. "Those will be followed by outreaches in Charleston, South Carolina; Mesa, Arizona; and Lisbon, Portugal."
To learn more about Convoy of Hope, please visit online at: http://convoyofhope.org
