Businesses provide tornado relief

Multiple first responders, businesses, and organizations have come together in Madison County to provide aid and assistance to the people of Rolling Fork after an EF-4 tornado devastated the Delta on March 24. 

Broadmoor Baptist Church, along with Lowe’s of Madison and Kroger on Colony Crossing, The Madison Fire and Police departments, Sullivan’s Marketplace, and Guns-N-Gear of Madison all took part in Rolling Fork relief efforts by collecting items to deliver and sending first responders to the town to aid in search and rescue. 

Broadmoor Baptist Church partnered with Digio Strategies (parent company of US96, 93.5 The Legend, Blues 93.1, 102.1 The Box, Mix 98.7, and Y101.7) to collect and deliver supplies to the Rolling Fork community. 

Michael Bowen, media and communications pastor at Broadmoor, said the church values running to the hurting, and members take that to heart. 

“This project came about through church members wanting to help and using their personal connections to find out where the greatest needs were at the time,” Bowen said. “That led us to Rolling Fork and the law enforcement community in that town. We are grateful to Scott Steele and Digio Strategies for working with us on this project.” 

Bowen said the church had a goal of two tractor-trailer loads full of supplies, and that goal was met on March 28. He said these trucks arrived last Wednesday. 

“Originally we planned to go through last Thursday, but the support was so great we met our goal and decided to go ahead and deliver the supplies early to meet those needs as quickly as possible,” Bowen said. “Once everything is delivered, we will take feedback from local law enforcement.” 

Through this project, businesses such as Lowe’s Home Improvement in Madison, and the Madison Kroger at Colony Crossing also got involved and served as collection points until last Wednesday morning for items to be prepped and delivered to Rolling Fork. 

Broadmoor collected a wide variety of items for the town, including dry cereal, canned goods (fruit, vegetables, juice, soups, meats, pasta, and beans), nuts, peanut butter, bread, crackers, granola/energy bars, unrefrigerated fruit (bananas, apples and oranges), pet food, baby food and bottles, rice and pasta, seasonings, and oats. 

The also collected items like rain gear, paper towels, plastic sheeting, rope, duct tape, garbage bags, aluminum foil, mosquito repellent, grills, charcoal, lighter fluid, can openers, document bags, matches, hand sanitizer, dish soap, paper plates and cups, plastic utensils, pet leashes and bowls, and baby supplies like diapers and wipes. 

People can also give to Rolling Fork financially by visiting Broadmoor’s “Give” page at www.broadmoor.org/give and selecting the “Disaster Relief” option. 

“Broadmoor’s mission statement is that we want to join Jesus on His mission for the glory of God and the good of our communities,” Bowen said. “The best way we felt to live that mission out was to run to those hurting in Rolling Fork and provide supplies they needed to live as they rebuild their community. We hope this opens doors for relationships with those that live in Rolling Fork as well as the responders providing support to help those folks rebuild.” 

The Madison Fire Department partnered with the Madison Police Department and sent around 20 men total from each department to Rolling Fork to help with search and rescue. 

Madison Fire Chief Derrick Layton said the Mississippi Task Force called and asked for the fire and police departments to respond. 

“We sent around eight guys from the fire department and 12 guys from the police department out there that Friday night and they got there around 11 p.m.,” Layton said. “They stayed out there until around 8 p.m. that Saturday night, and came home. We sent another group of around seven guys out there that Sunday morning and they came back that evening.” 

Layton said the response went well and was a great team effort between departments. 

“We were just one of many cities that responded that night,” he said. “The guys helped wherever they were needed.” 

Gluckstadt Mayor Walter Morrison said Police Chief Wendell Watts and Assistant Chief Barry Hale made several trips to Rolling Fork and paid for items out of their own pockets to donate to the people there. 

“A lot of people in Gluckstadt contributed to the aid, including Lindsay Kellum, who helped unload the trucks we sent up there, but it was all with the assistance of Chief Watts and Assistant Chief Hale,” Morrison said.

Sullivan’s Marketplace also partnered with the city of Gluckstadt and served as a large collection point for items to be sent to Rolling Fork. 

Jeff McKnight, store manager at Sullivan’s, said the store collected items such as water, diapers, paper goods, canned goods, baby wipes, cat food, and dog food. 

Guns-N-Gear of Madison collected seven full pallets of water for Rolling Fork, and successfully delivered a total of 13,440 bottles, which came out to around 1,744.5 gallons of clean drinking water. 

Guns-N-Gear owner Hunter Sartain said he is a paramedic by profession and while he does not work as a paramedic anymore, helping people is in his DNA. 

“I saw a need and knew I had the ability to help, so I did,” Sartain said.