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BY REBECCA GRACE | AFA Journal Staff Writer
In the wake of Hurricane
Katrina, a phone call and $10,000 worth of bottled water began what
is now known as HANDS — a five-month-old, faith-based disaster
relief organization. HANDS is an acronym for Helping Americans Needing
Disaster Support.
"But it’s
truly symbolic of being the hands of Christ, …" said Leisha
Pickering, founder and presiding director. "The imagery of
hands is so beautiful because hands do a lot of things," from
serving a meal to loading a truck.
The formation of the
organization, which has already provided more than $50 million in
aid to hurricane victims, was an immediate reaction rather than
a planned response.
"It was the day
after the hurricane," explained Pickering, the wife of U. S.
Congressman Chip Pickering (R-MS). "I got a call. When the
phone rang, we were all shocked because … our phone lines
were out."
This was the only time
in three days that the Pickerings’ phone rang as they sat in
their Jackson, Mississippi, home without electricity following Hurricane
Katrina.
"I ran and picked
the phone up," Pickering said, "and it was my friend Caroline
Aderholt," an Alabama congressman’s wife.
Aderholt was calling
to check on the Pickering family and make sure they were safe following
the August storm that wreaked havoc on New Orleans and the Mississippi
Gulf Coast, about 200 miles south of Jackson.
"I told her that
we were safe … but so many people needed so much help,"
Pickering said.
"Leisha, the nation
wants to help. The churches want to help. Tell me what you need,"
Aderholt replied.
Unsure of the immediate
needs and having only seen images of the destruction on a small
TV powered by a generator, Pickering thought she remembered hearing
a request for water.
"I’ll get
you water," Aderholt replied. "My church is collecting
supplies also. Just give me a little while, and I’ll figure
out how to get you water."
Being a person of normal
financial means, Aderholt went to the bank and borrowed $10,000
to purchase water. She secured an 18-wheeler to haul it, and within
six hours, it arrived in Mississippi where Pickering became its
prime distributor.
"I went down to
the [Jackson] coliseum because I knew they had 2,000 [evacuated]
people staying there," Pickering said.
Her attempt to secure
delivery and distribution of the water was unsuccesful.
"They told me they
couldn’t take it," she said. "They … didn’t
have a way to distribute it…receive it or store it."
Grasping for relief
The mother of five children ages 7 to 16, Pickering co-manages
an event planning business based in Washington, D.C. She didn’t
need another responsibility. Yet, knowing two more truckloads of
supplies were on the way, Pickering was determined to find a place
where the water and supplies could be delivered, sorted and repackaged
for distribution.
She contacted a friend
who attends Christ United Methodist Church located in the center
of Jackson. The church agreed to be a receiving hub for the supply
trucks.
"We had about 10
volunteers, and we just said … we’re going to receive
these trucks and try to find where the supplies need to go,"
Pickering explained.
Then she decided to
appeal to the masses by appearing on TV and asking for more supplies
and volunteers.
"When I did that,
the response was overwhelming," Pickering said. "We went
from 10 volunteers on the first day to 500 in two days, at any one
time."
It was as if the effort
was organizing itself, although it was obvious God had been orchestrating
it from the very beginning.
Within a week, the newly
formed distribution center outgrew its first location and was moved
to an empty Winn-Dixie grocery store down the street. The abandoned
store was tied up in bankruptcy litigation, so using it as a distribution
center didn’t seem plausible.
But Pickering was determined.
"So we made a couple
of phone calls," she said, "and it ended up that the national
president of Winn-Dixie called and said … you can move in for
$10 rent."
They did and remained
there for two months until Pickering received another phone call
— this time from some generous men who wanted to join the work.
"They saw it as
a great thing the community could be a part of, … and they
said they wanted to buy us a building so that we could continue
the effort," Pickering said.
So they gladly moved
once again to what is now their permanent location at 863 Centre
Street in Ridgeland, Mississippi. What used to be a lighting gallery
is now a nationally supplied distribution center and warehouse for
HANDS.
Although there is work
to be done on the building’s layout and décor, that
doesn’t keep the organization from working full force to continue
meeting the needs of hurricane victims on a daily basis.
In the beginning, HANDS
was distributing supplies on a non-stop basis. They were sending
out 75 truckloads to every one truckload of supplies sent out by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"We’re certainly
not in that mode [anymore]," Pickering said, although the needs
are still great.
"Right now …
it [Hurricane Katrina] is kind of old news, but it’s not old
news to people on the Coast," Pickering explained. "They
are just still trying to figure out what they are going to do.
"It takes a lifetime
to build your life," she added, "and in one morning it
was all destroyed. We recognize the need for long-term disaster
relief" — which is why HANDS instituted its Family Connection
Program.
Reaching for relationships
The project is a partnership program in which HANDS is asking
churches, charities, foundations, corporations and Sunday School
classes to "adopt" a family.
"We’re asking
[them] to take one family and commit for one year to develop a friendship
and to love and care for them and to help them heal emotionally
and … spiritually and in that … meet some of their physical
needs," Pickering explained.
HANDS workers traveled
to the Coast and collected personal information for approximately
1,500 families. Letters and phone calls are received daily from
families needing assistance, so HANDS is encouraging groups, specifically
churches, to be creative in responding to families.
"When there is
a tragedy or a disaster in people’s lives, they typically turn
to their family, their neighbors, their place of employment, their
church or their local school," Pickering explained. "When
Katrina hit, it affected all of these. So essentially, everybody’s
support unit has been torn out.
"We’re trying
to create a support network outside of the immediate places you
look," Pickering said. "What an example for us to really
be … salt and light and to really love and care for these folks.
"What could be
more meaningful to these families than to have people who don’t
know them at all care and love them because of Christ?" she
added.
"There are so many
churches across the country that want to help but just don’t
know what to do," Pickering explained. "So we’re
saying call us, and … we will give you a family and let you
be creative and love and care for them."
"It’s taken
a lot more than we thought to get people involved in sponsoring
these families," admitted Rebecca Pierce, HANDS executive assistant
who helps coordinate the Family Connection Program. "To me,
it seems like a very simple thought. You have one family, and you
have one church or business, and you match the two together.
"To me that seems
so practical and so easy to do, but it hasn’t proven to be
that simple," she added.
Ann Pierce, technology
coordinator for HANDS, agrees,"It’s a program that can
work. … And it’s a great way to … do what God called
us to do which is to help the least among us."
The sisters agree that
the hardest part of their jobs is telling people in need that they
will have to wait until a church or other organization commits to
partner with them — which validates Pickering’s sense
of urgency in appealing to the nation and its churches.
But don’t get her
wrong. The overall response to relief efforts has been overwhelming
and greatly appreciated.
"To me it was the
most beautiful thing because it’s how the church really should
be," she explained. "It was everybody coming together.
There were no walls. It was old. It was young. It was black. It
was white. It was Republican. It was Democrat. It was Catholic,
Methodist, Episcopal. It was everybody just coming together to help."
After all, she added,
"This is not just about one person. It’s so not about
me. We are just really a result of people’s love and generosity."
Touching hearts
The generosity, prompted by the Holy Spirit, has allowed HANDS
to host various relief drives while making available fully-equipped
work trailers, a mobile kitchen unit, and mobile clothing units.
Each work trailer contains
$15,000 worth of tools complete with sleeping bags, tents and generators.
Nissan recently donated a three-quarter-ton truck to help haul the
trailers to and from the Coast.
The mobile kitchen unit
contains a refrigerator, freezer, convection oven, Viking range
and generator for groups to use for feeding their volunteers.
The mobile clothing
project was designed to supply hurricane victims with brand new
clothes free of charge. HANDS only accepts new clothing which they
receive from name-brand clothing distributors such as The Rogue,
The Limited, Ann Taylor Loft and Nike, among others. The purpose
of distributing only new clothing is to help the affected people
restore their dignity as they rebuild their lives.
Companies found out
about this and began responding. As a result, HANDS now has a warehouse
full of new clothes that are sorted, hung on racks and driven to
the Coast where victims are given the opportunity to "shop"
for what they need.
"We also work with
the local schools getting sizes from parents for their children,
and we box up two outfits apiece [complete] with a coat and a brand
new pair of tennis shoes," Pickering explained.
While these are ongoing
projects made available through gifts and donations, since HANDS
is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, there is still a need for
people to answer the call to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
"But now is the
hard work," Pickering admitted while referring to a quote she
once heard. "I don’t even know who said it or where it
came from, but it [goes like this], ‘Every movement has its
galvanic moment when the world takes notice, and then comes the
hard part — sustaining the effort long enough to make a real
difference.’
"I really believe
when the hurricane hit it was a galvanic moment," she explained.
"Everybody wanted to help. Now’s the hard part —
sustaining it long enough to really make a difference in the lives
of these people."
To contact
the HANDS Distribution Center:
Phone: 601-957-0094
Toll free: 877-HANDS03E-mail: handsrelief@bellsouth.net
Web site: www.hands.ms
8 D
A Y S O F H O P E
Opportunity
for hands-on work on Gulf Coast
By
Randall Murphree
The Body of Christ
continues to find creative and practical ways to minister to victims
of last fall’s devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes. 8 Days
of Hope (AFA Journal, 2/06) is one example of how countless thousands
of Christians have responded with personal commitment and sacrifice
to demonstrate the love of Christ both to fellow believers and
to others as well.
Last December, Steve
Tybor III of Tupelo, Mississippi, and Steve Tybor Jr. of Buffalo,
New York, coordinated a massive effort involving 693 volunteers
from 37 states who traveled to the Mississippi Coast to help repair
homes damaged in the storms.
"It went great,"
said Tybor III. "We were excited with what we were able to
do, with God’s grace. But you always learn a lot!"
Because they learned
a lot, the father-son duo believe they will be able to be even
more effective with a second project May 28-June 3. Initially,
it was intended to be a low-key one-time thing with the Tybors
recruiting a few friends to go down and work on a few houses.
Clearly, God had greater plans.
"We’re already
getting volunteers signed up for May," Tybor said. "We
have 30 Kent State University students signed up and 38 roofers
from Michigan!" In this second phase of 8 Days of Hope, they
urge volunteers to plan minimum three-day stays on the coast.
"The one-day and two-day volunteer plan didn’t work
out well logistically," said Tybor.
Tybor encourages volunteers
to learn more and enlist at www.8daysofhope.com.
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