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Late last summer, we suggested that congregations consider filling Children’s Comfort Kits and/or Clean Up Kits (aka flood buckets) as a God’s Work Our Hands Day project.   Helene impacted the Carolinas just weeks later and large quantities of these kits – plus personal care kits, quilts, and many other items – began arriving at the NC Synod office and congregations that had agreed to serve as collection points. 

We continue to be grateful for that outpouring of care for others in need!  We delivered kits to congregations and partners in western NC, SC, and TN for areas affected by Helene and other flooding that followed later in the fall.

As flooding continues to occur in locations across the Carolinas from Tropical Storm Chantal and other storms and we are just entering peak hurricane season, we see a continuing need for clean up kits and would like to encourage congregations to assemble more.   The instructions are available here.  We still have several hundred children’s comfort kits so we do NOT need more of those at this time.

Please remember to follow the packing list so that all the items fit inside the bucket with the lid closed.

Because our storage space is limited, it would be helpful if you can store the buckets until they are needed.  If you assemble kits that you can store, please contact Emily so we will have an inventory of available kits.  If you do not have storage space, please contact Ruth Ann so we can work together on transportation and storage arrangements.

Here are some suggestions if you are looking for other ways to support ongoing – and future – recovery efforts:

We continue to accept small quantities of quilts that will be used in Welcome Kits as home repairs are completed and families are welcomed back into their homes.  Please contact Amy to make arrangements.

While we are not requesting other items to help fill those kits, you can help by providing gift cards for Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Amazon, or Ingle’s.  (We do not need additional Food Lion cards at this time.) Gift cards are very helpful because they support the local economy and are easily transported and stored.  These cards can be used to purchase supplies, tools, building materials, and items to fill the welcome kits.  Ingle’s cards can be placed in the welcome baskets or given to families in need.    

Of course, we also welcome financial contributions to LDR Carolinas to support our ongoing ministry of disaster preparedness and recovery or to Bridging Together to help replace private roads and bridges in western NC to help get people home.  Checks should be mailed to either LDR Carolinas or Bridging Together, c/o NC Synod, 1988 Lutheran Synod Drive, Salisbury NC 28144.

Gracious God,  

Your word of peace stills the storms that rage in our world. Bring hope to places that know devastation in the calm after the storm. Bring comfort to those who grieve the loss of loved ones and property. Let your love be known through those who work to bring order in the chaos. Help us to shoulder the burden of suffering and make us bearers of the hope that can be found in you through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. 

As we continue to pray for those affected by the devastating flooding in Texas and New Mexico, we turn our attention to the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Chantal and additional storms here in the Carolinas. 

We are reaching out to the pastors of our congregations in the affected areas to learn more about the situations they face and are also working with our partners in VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) to determine the best ways to respond to this storm.  

The prayer above calls on all of us to help shoulder the burden of suffering and make us bearers of hope, so the next question becomes “How can we help?” 

As we shared in a quick Facebook post after the flooding caused by Chantal, the best way to help is always by donating financially.  We suggest you support Lutheran Disaster Response or LDR Carolinas to support the response.   

We also want to caution you – as we always do:  please do not self-deploy or send stuff to the affected areas.  You may ask why we say those same things after every disaster.   We have learned through our own experience, through FEMA training on Volunteer and Donations management, and through the repeated experience of others that both are problematic, no matter how well intentioned.    

If you have heard us speak at preparedness workshop or even preaching at an LDR Sunday, we share this along with the good news: 

Please do not ever self-deploy.  DO help your neighbors as you are able when a disaster affects your community, but don not just show up in an impacted area after a disaster, no matter how experienced you are.  Instead, work with LDR or another reputable volunteer organization.   

They will direct you how to help where it is needed most and will help you arrange housing.  Otherwise, you may be putting yourself in danger, using resources the community needs for disaster survivors, and actually complicating response efforts.   

Last fall after Helene, we heard numerous stories about volunteers endangered or injured when trees fell, additional mudslides occurred, or damaged roads continued to collapse.  We also heard from some well-meaning folks who arrived in a specific location and were upset when they could not find anyone who needed the type of help they were prepared to offer. 

Please don’t ever send stuff – not even bottled water – unless it has been specifically requested AND you know that someone in the disaster area is prepared to accept it, store it, and distribute it to those in need. Don’t ever send used clothing. 

We can tell you from personal experience about the challenges of storing, sorting, and distributing donated items – especially clothing – for months after a major disaster. We heard soon after Helene about tractor-trailer loads dropped off in small towns that were not prepared to handle that quantity of supplies and piles of used and unusable clothing that then needed to be discarded as trash.    

Many disaster response professionals consider excess donations to be the second disaster because they require space and time that are often in short supply after a disaster. 

Do give financial support!  In addition to donating directly to organizations at work in disaster response, consider sending gift cards for major retailers to the groups responding to the disaster.  Those financial gifts help responders and area residents affected by the disaster shop locally to purchase items that are needed.  This also supports the local economy by helping local businesses and their employees get back to normal!   

If you want to read about these same concerns in someone else’s words, here is a blog post from Kathryn Haueisen, the author of A Ready Hope, which is a resource we have used to help train others in how to prepare for and respond to disasters.  Let us know if you would like to read this book.  We have additional copies available.  And yes, we are the couple she mentions in this post!   

Prayer from https://resources.elca.org/lutheran-disaster-response/worship-resource-natural-disaster/    

Photo from https://www.facebook.com/ncweatherauthority  

Volunteers are needed to help with Long-Term Recovery

There are plenty of opportunities to be involved in the long-term recovery following Hurricane Helene right here in South Carolina. Organize a service trip or a day of volunteering to help with domestic disaster recovery.

Contact Kelli Fulmer via email at kelli@ldrcarolinas.org or phone 803-271-5507 for information about sending volunteer groups to South Carolina affected areas.  Depending on your skills, work may include lawn cleanup and landscaping, river and trail cleanup, debris removal, general home repair and rebuilding, cooking, sorting donations, and heavy equipment operation. Skilled workers are also needed for electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work.

We are no longer collecting kits, but we welcome donations of gift cards to Walmart, Lowe’s, Amazon, or Home Depot.  Those will be used to purchase tools, supplies, and building materials.   Please send them to LDR Carolinas at 1988 Lutheran Synod Drive, Salisbury NC 28144.

If you know individuals or families with damage or other unmet needs due to Helene, please encourage them to contact Kelli Fulmer.

MENTAL EMOTIONAL SPIRITUAL SUPPORT TRAINING
Free Two-Day Disaster Training for Clergy and Lay Leaders

In-person in Arden, NC, Monday, September 8, through Wednesday, September 10, 2025.
Financial assistance is available from LDR Carolinas for travel expenses if needed.
Please contact Ruth Ann Sipe (ruthann@ldrcarolinas.org) for more information.
Seating is limited. Register by Friday, August 8, 2025.

The North and South Carolina Synods, in collaboration with Lutheran Disaster Response, are excited to offer Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Support (MESS) disaster training for clergy and lay leaders. This program is designed to give church leaders the skills needed to respond to a disaster in both stabilizing (immediate, short-term need following a disaster) and
support (long-term need weeks, months, or years after an event) roles.

For more information or questions, please contact Ruth Ann Sipe.

Register online using this link or via the QR code below:

Ruth Ann reported to the NC Synod at their recent assembly at the Koury Center in Greensboro:

Two years ago, my husband Ray and I began a shared call as the coordinators for LDR Carolinas, funded primarily by a grant from Lutheran Disaster Response.  Our primary tasks were to encourage preparedness and to develop a network of individuals and congregations prepared to respond when a disaster occurred in North or South Carolina.

We chose Psalm 46 as a scripture basis for our work:

¹God is our refuge and strength,

    a very presenthelp in trouble.

² Therefore we will not fear,

    though the earth should change,

    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,

³ though its waters roar and foam,

    though the mountains tremble with its tumult. 

That passage reminds us what we are ALL called – as God’s people – to do when the earth changes, the mountains shake, and the waters roar: to claim God’s presence and help in all circumstances.  And to be signs of God’s loving presence through our work.

During the past two years, Ray and I have responded to several local disasters across both states – including an EF 3 tornado in Rocky Mount, a severe hailstorm in Rock Hill SC, severe flooding in Brunswick County due to the “No-Name” Storm, and a deadly police shooting in Charlotte. 

In each case, we have worked closely with nearby congregations to help them respond by sharing God’s love to their community in need.  Short term solidarity grants from Lutheran Disaster Response have enabled us to support communities when these local disasters occurred.

In 2024, Tropical Storm Debby and then Hurricane Helene affected large portions of North Carolina – and South Carolina as well.  We received solidarity grants to provide assistance for two areas affected by flooding during Debby – in Greensboro and Lumberton.

Since Helene, contributions and additional grants from Lutheran Disaster Response have provided funding for new staff positions in both North and South Carolina. 

We have welcomed Pastor Emily Lemoine as a part time administrator, acknowledging financial contributions and helping us manage the incredible quantities of donated clean up kits, children’s comfort kits, personal care kits, quilts, and other items that have been distributed to multiple places in Western North Carolina, including Grace and Bethany, Boone, Calvary, Morganton, Living Waters, Cherokee, plus Stateline Resource Center in Trade TN, ABCCM (Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry), and other partners.

In mid-January, Amy Phillips joined our team as the Western North Carolina Response Coordinator.   She is coordinating housing and work projects for volunteer teams that have been arriving from all across the country.  

So far, 196 volunteers have completed nearly 3600 hours of service.   And 740 more volunteers are already scheduled in the coming months!

In April, Kelli Fulmer joined our team as the SC Response Coordinator.  She is the only member of our team not present here at this assembly.  She will be with us at the SC Synod Assembly in two weeks.

We also appreciate Angela Galbraith, a member of the churchwide LDR staff who is here for assembly and helped us with the pre-assembly event yesterday morning.  (Ray, Emily, Amy, and Angela were asked to stand so that everyone could see them.) 

Earlier this spring, a report was mailed to each of our congregations in NC, and to everyone who had donated to LDR Carolinas or the NC Synod Disaster Fund since Helene. There are copies of this report on your tables this afternoon. 

Another major project for us is our Bridging Together partnership with Mennonite Disaster Service to replace private bridges throughout western NC that were destroyed in the flooding.  Thousands need to be replaced to help get people home. Ray has been the coordinator for all the partners in NC VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) who are building private roads and bridges.

 There are four specific ways you can continue to help:

• Pray for disaster survivors, volunteers, and response workers across the Carolinas.

• Continue to give to support this work.  This work will go on for years to come.

• Volunteer to help with the ongoing work of debris cleanup, home repair, and bridge building.

• Prepare before future disasters impact your home, congregation, or community.  We would be glad to visit your congregation to help you learn more.

We encourage you to stop by our display table to learn more about our work and to find out more about how you can help.  Some folks have already asked us about how else they can help; what donated items we need; or if we have another suggested project for God’s Work Our Hands Day.  

We don’t have another project planned right now, but we would welcome gift cards to Home Depot, Lowe’s, Amazon, or Walmart that can be used to purchase tools, supplies, or building materials that are needed as home repairs continue.

 We are not currently accepting more kits, but we would be glad to have more quilts.  Those will be given to families as the work ³on their homes is completed.  Talk with Amy or me for more information.

 We are already planning some special events for the coming months, including:

• A training course for clergy and lay leaders who want to be prepared to offer mental, emotional, and spiritual support to those affected by disaster.  LDR will be providing this training at no cost on September 8-10 at Lutheridge.  Use the QR code to register now.

• A one-year service of remembrance is being planned for September 27.   It will be held at Nativity, Arden. Plus, there will be prayer resources available for you to use in your own congregations, as well.

• We are beginning to plan for another online book study of the book A Ready Hope.  Look for more information in synod e-news soon. 

We know that we could not have responded to Helene in such a meaningful way without your help.  Please stand as you are able if you (or your congregation) have helped with the Helene response by:

Organizing chaplains for evacuation shelters

Providing emergency housing for resettled immigrants

Volunteering at the multi-agency warehouse

Helping clear downed trees on homes

Helping clear downed trees at Lutheridge or Lutherock

Assembling and donating clean up kits (aka flood buckets)

Assembling and donating children’s comfort kits

Assembling and donating personal care or hygiene kits

Donating quilts

Donating blankets

Donating coats or new clothes

Donating gas cans or 2 in 1 oil

Donating other special supplies like propane tanks or tents

Delivering supplies in a rental truck

Delivering supplies in the NC Synod/LDR Carolinas trailer

Delivering supplies in another trailer

Serving as a collection point for donated kits, quilts, or other items

Taking phone calls for assistance on Crisis Clean Up   (We recently learned that 45 volunteers from LDR Carolinas handled over 1500 calls for assistance in 60 days last fall!)

Volunteering through LDR Carolinas, working with Amy Phillips, since early this spring

Are planning to volunteer – individually or with a team – in the coming months

Donating gift cards

Donating to the NC or SC Synod Disaster Fund

Donating to LDR Carolinas

Donating to Bridging Together

Finally, last but most important, please stand if you have prayed for those impacted by Helene, the volunteers working on recovery, and for the work of LDR Carolinas. 

We also owe thanks to the NC Synod staff who have all helped load and unload donated items.  So many items!  This includes gathering items from events across the synod!

We could not do this work without all of you and your support.  Thank you!