OBI Responds to Wilma
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 Florida home damaged by Hurricane Wilma
 OBI distributes water and hot meals to hurricane victims
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CHOKOLOSKEE, Florida -
With several weeks still remaining in an unprecedented 23-storm season – the first to exhaust all names and plow into the Greek alphabet – Operation Blessing has been working around the clock to bring disaster relief to this year’s hurricane victims.
Wilma, peaking as a category five storm, was the last hurricane to hit the U.S., pounding the southern tip of Florida and leaving millions without power. Operation Blessing directors quickly scouted stricken areas and zeroed in on communities suffering in the silence of blackouts.
Partnering with Church of God and other faith-based organizations, OBI has set up distribution sites across southern Florida, handing out water, ice, food and blue tarps to hurricane victims.
In Pahokee and Clewiston, Florida, small villages on the edge of Lake Okeechobee, OBI set up a distribution of food and generators. In Chokoloskee, a once quaint Everglades fishing village, OBI distributed food and water and provided over 450 hot meals to residents whose homes were destroyed by Wilma’s raging storm surge.
In Pembroke Pines, just West of Hollywood, OBI made arrangements for a Church of God mobile kitchen to begin serving hot meals. In Medley, Florida, a tiny Hispanic community near Miami, OBI provided the Medley Community of Faith Church with roof tarps, relief supplies and cash. When more volunteer help was needed, OBI called their Mennonite partners in Alabama. A team of 15 Mennonites immediately set out, driving all night to set up a mobile kitchen and serve hot meals with food delivered by OBI’s Hunger Strike Force trucks.
Overwhelmed by the surge of aid arriving, the Mayor of Medley thanked the OBI team. “Operation Blessing is like an angel sent by God,” he said.
OBI's disaster relief response includes support of the Salvation Army and its mass feeding programs, activation of their network of local churches and organizations, and dispatching tree removal and roof repair teams as needed.
In the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana and Texas, Operation Blessing is continuing their relief efforts and has awarded cash grants totaling over $3 million, empowering churches to assist their members and communities with grassroots relief.
“We are on the front lines fighting the war against the devastation caused by these hurricanes,” said Bill Horan, President of Operation Blessing. “Thanks to the benevolence of our many partners, Operation Blessing is able to help ease some of that suffering.”
How You Can Help
You can take part in Operation Blessing's ongoing disaster response efforts by making an online donation to help those affected by the hurricanes.
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