Be with those who are suffering, give them hope

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FL, UNITED STATES

11.15.2017

Story by Senior Airman Solomon Cook 

325th Fighter Wing

As the Florida sun beams down on a U.S. Air Force base flightline, a group of people form a circle in front of boxes carefully stacked on pallets. The group, gathered in prayer, hoping their words of hopefulness and their love are packed tightly between the supplies stored in the boxes.

This Hurricane Maria relief effort began when a few military spouses reached out to one of their own in Puerto Rico. Their response came together in a sequence of events that resulted in 9,640 pounds of supplies being flown to the U.S. territory, Oct. 21, 2017.

“We are grateful that you are allowing us to meet the needs of others,” said Capt. Ronald Lawrence, a 325th Fighter Wing chaplain, during the blessing of the supplies. “Hundreds of thousands of people are being affected by lack of electricity, running water and basic essentials. Perhaps these are things that we take for granted because they are at our disposal every day. But, as we have seen through these natural disasters, it can all change in the blink of an eye.

“Help us not to forget this very sobering fact,” he added.

The words of spirituality and community had profound meaning to those in attendance.

“We are packing up donations for a woman named Jennice Cruz,” said Elana Power, a Tyndall military spouse. “She is a Tyndall spouse who is currently volunteering in Puerto Rico in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Maria. She has asked for us to collect medicine, canned food, and water – basically anything that we can send down to her to help in the recovery efforts.”

The collection of supplies was the easiest part of their task as an influx of donations arrived immediately after the initial coordination.

“It’s been about two weeks since we started the effort,” Power explained. “It started with myself getting in touch with Tech. Sgt. Shawn Holmes, and between the two of us, we were able to contact several people. We had to go through base legal and other agencies, including the wing commander to get a military transport for the goods.”

“There were a lot of hoops to jump through. We are not a private organization, we are just a group of volunteers who have big hearts. We wanted to serve another military spouse who was serving her time in the recovery efforts,” she added.

“As a nation, we have issues to varying degrees that can be very distracting and often times divisive in nature,” Lawrence said, as the volunteers bowed their heads to reflect on their efforts. “However, when disaster strikes and there is need for mobilization to help, we seem to come together regardless of our position on these matters and take care of the situation.

“This is what we do, and today is just one more example,” he punctuated.

The efforts were not exclusive to just the installation.

“We coordinated our efforts with Tyndall Elementary, and they were able to provide donations for one of the schools in Puerto Rico,” Power said.

Once the word was put out, there was no shortage of volunteers or supplies.

“We had about 15 volunteers who worked over the course of 12 hours,” Power said. “This does not include the five-person team that worked the coordination aspect of this relief effort. As we started getting all the water in, we had at least 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of water.”

Power went on to note that there is no limit to what individuals can provide to those in need.

“There is no gauge you can place on how much you can help,” she said. “And you know what? If we overwhelm Puerto Rico with our donations and our love, then that is amazing!”

She then went on to highlight the volunteers, some native to Puerto Rico, about the importance of their efforts.

“Several of our volunteers are Puerto Rican, ones that couldn’t get in contact with their families,” Power said. “They didn’t know exactly what was going on down there and they felt completely helpless. So, they were able to feel like they were doing something for their families, homes and people to help in the recovery effort. It was like a big hug from far away.

“It is an outpouring of love,” she said with a smile.

“Perhaps these supplies will be the answers to someone’s prayer; their plea to God to know that they are not alone; that their life matters,” the chaplain proclaimed, summing up the efforts of those who helped. “Bless those on the ground in Puerto Rico, helping with the relief efforts.”

“Be with those who are suffering, and give them hope and encouragement,” he concluded.

• Date Taken: 11.15.2017
• Date Posted: 11.16.2017 10:56
• Story ID: 255541
• Location: TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FL, US