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By Bob Weaver
Fourteen days after the great flood of 2001, members of the First Baptist
Church of Grantsville took to the road after filling two trucks and raising
$1000 for flood relief. "It was a rewarding experience," said church volunteer
Faye Fitzwater, who traveled with eight other women and two men last
weekend to Gauley Bridge to help the victims.
Pastor of the Gauley Bridge Baptist Church Rev. Joe Law, a former
Grantsville resident, told the group his church workers were wearing down
providing meals and flood relief. The local group arrived Saturday, bringing
all their food items with them, and prepared two meals for over 300 people.
Sunday the group cooked 150 meals, in addition to providing 100 carry-out
boxes during the weekend.
The Gauley Bridge church has been reaching out to Fayette County
communities hard hit by the flood, like Cannelton, Scrabble Creek and Glen
Ferris. The Grantsville First Baptist Church fed victims who were still living
in tents, relief workers, National Guardsmen and Department of Highway
workers.
"It is a frightening and sad experience to see the people suffering and the
damage the flood has caused," said Fitzwater, who took a brief side trip up
and down some nearby hollows.
The Grantsville church group took cases of water and bleach, boots,
batteries, t-shirts, cleaning supplies and personal items in two trucks, in
addition to providing their own food supply for cooking. "The support given
the hurried project was overwhelming," Fitzwater said.
Volunteering with the group, Marge Gherke, Debbie Richards, Delma Kemper,
Imogene Hoskins, Helen Johnson, Sharon Gherke, Faye Fitzwater, Junior
Hoskins and Brian Richards.
EDITORS NOTE: For the several thousands of readers of The Herald who live
in busier places around America and in several foreign counties, one of the
great joys of life in Sunny Cal and rural West Virginia is a fastness to a living
principle. When the chips are down, it's time to help. People here in the hills
give, give and give in times of need, forgetting conflicts and disputes they
reach out. God bless them all, and on this day The First Baptist Church of
Grantsville.
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