Yesterday afternoon, a trailer load of supplies left our Nashville warehouse for St. Joseph, MO. On Monday morning, July 20th, St. Joseph received 5 inches of rain, causing Contrary Creek to rise above flood stage, and flood the south end of St.Joseph. Several hundred homes were flooded. Yesterday we received word from the East Hills church of Christ in St. Joseph to send a trailer load of supplies.

Easter Weekend, April 12th & 13th, there were 105 confirmed tornadoes from the South/Southeast, up to the northeastern part of the US  Tornadoes touched down in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and even in Maryland.  With the length of all of the paths of  these tornadoes combined,  the distance tornadoes were on the ground Easter weekend was 771.86 miles! 

As I type this message a trailer load of supplies is being unloaded at the Jackson Street church of Christ building in Monroe, LA. We were in contact with the Monroe area Sunday, after the tornado struck Saturday. The Jackson Street church requested a truck, so they could unload it at 8am this morning. We received word that over 200 families were seeking shelter from the damage done to their homes.

Tuesday afternoon a tornado struck the Tishomingo, MS area. Ken Lowry, our Associate Director was in contact with area congregations that evening, and they requested a truckload of supplies for delivery at 9am the next morning…

Here at COCDRE, we are keenly aware of the current COVID-19 pandemic. It is our duty to maintain a high level of food safety, and to those ends we are regularly inspected by the FDA and USDA to make sure we are in compliance with Federal and State requirements. Beyond those inspections we are very mindful of affecting the health of those we are hoping to help after a major disaster.

A lot of damage and devastation in East Nashville, and communities east of us. Our facilities are fine, although one of our employees homes in Mount Juliet was damaged. The death count is now 25. and a small number of people are still unaccounted for…

Yesterday morning, we received our first request for supplies from flood areas. The minister from the Shiner Church of Christ in Williamsburg, Kentucky left me a message about about wanting a truck, Eastern time, early yesterday morning. I called him back at 8am, and we had the truck loaded at 9:15, and the driver left our warehouse at 10:45.

Monday morning, January 6th we had a message on our answering machine from Jerry Graham, minister of the East Laurel church in Laurel, MS.  Laurel was hit December 16th by a tornado, and a large number of homes had been destroyed or damaged.  A number of tornadoes were reported on the 16th in Louisiana and Mississippi.

On Oct. 26th the west Tennessee counties of McNairy, Decatur and Hardin were devastated by a large storm, prompting the mayors of two of the counties to declare States of Emergency. Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort was first notified of the need for aid on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 31st, and our first truck load arrived the following morning at the Scotts Hill church of Christ. It took just two hours to distribute the whole load and another truck was requested.

Two more trailers full of supplies were delivered to two locations in Orange, TX to be delivered by members of the Westgate Church of Christ in Beaumont. These two locations will be used to distribute to flood victims in and around Orange, and Mauriceville, TX

This morning about 230 volunteers packed 1,500 family food boxes at our warehouse at 410 Allied Drive in Nashville, so we can continue to fill requests from congregations in Southeast Texas after Tropical Storm Imelda. Imelda dropped some 40 inches of rain on Southeast Texas. The volunteers packed those 1,500 family food boxes in 1 hour 40 minutes!