Samaritan’s Purse arrives, spearheading long work of recovery

Susan and Bill Cockerill watched an orange-clad crew steadily drag debris from their yard on Thursday. Their Woodstone Drive property had multiple trees down, with limbs scattered across the back yard and roof. It cost a friend in the Bluff Estates neighborhood around $14,000 to have a similar number of trees removed after last Friday’s tornado.

“We’re retired, there’s no way we could do that. So this is just a blessing we can’t even imagine,” Susan Cockerill said.

All 10 or so volunteers hailed from the Poplar Bluff area and were coordinated by Samaritan’s Purse, an international, Christian aid organization.

“They represent their faith incredibly. It’s men and women that come and donate their time, and they won’t even take a donation. It’s unbelievable,” she exclaimed.

Boots on the ground

Samaritan’s Purse began assessing wind and wildfire damage in the Midwest as soon as Friday night’s storms passed.

“We monitor all of the weather in situations within disasters all across the country at all times,” said Program Manager John Schultz. “We also maintain great relationships with folks all across the country, not only our volunteers and churches all over the country, but also emergency managers and local authorities as well.”

Samaritan’s Purse is an international, Christian aid organization with a branch dedicated to disaster response in the U.S. The organization’s local contacts and Butler County EMA provided information on the hardest hit areas. Assessment teams were sent in on Sunday and Monday.

“Once we determined that there was such a great need here and the local resources just needed a little extra help, that’s when we decided to go ahead and deploy one of our units to here,” Schultz said.

Samaritan’s Purse is now operating in Butler and some of the surrounding counties, partnering with local churches and community leaders and taking over volunteer coordination.

Volunteer Josh Burkey’s church, First Baptist, is the group’s base in Poplar Bluff.

“I heard about it (Samaritan’s Purse) from my church. I like to work hard and give back to my community,” Burkey said. “My grandpa was always helping people, I kind of got that work ethic.”

The work also felt like an extension of his faith.

“It’s a humbling experience, giving of yourself daily, because that’s what Jesus did; not material things, he gave of himself,” Burkey said.

Linda Scott and her husband were also inspired by their church.

“We just love to do community service. Our church (Fellowship Church) is always involved... and this is an extension of that for us. We’re both retired and have some time, and God’s been so good to us, and we just want to share that,” she said.

The couple previously volunteered with Samaritan’s Purse at Mayfield, Kentucky, after the December 2022 tornadoes. The experience left them eager to help again.

“After seeing so many disasters in other areas, we just felt blessed. There are so many people, especially the elderly, who don’t have anybody and we want to be there for as many people as we can,” she said, adding, “If you see someone in need, help. It may be you one of these days.”

The long haul

Initial city estimates are that 300-500 homes were impacted by the tornadoes. As of Wednesday night, Samaritan’s Purse crews had received 70 work orders.

“Unlike a lot of other disaster relief organizations, as long as we have work orders that are open, we will stay to finish them,” Schultz said.

By the same token, “Although we’re not going to leave until everyone that has reached out to us has gotten the help that they need... we also will leave if we don’t know that there is additional help needed. So we encourage homeowners to get in touch with us as soon as possible.”

Homeowners should call Samaritan’s Purse at 833-747-1234 if they need help with the following:

• Removal of personal property or furniture

• Debris removal (to the curb for city pickup)

• Chainsaw work

• Temporary roof tarping

Samaritan’s Purse accepts work orders on the basis of need and volunteer availability.

Prospective volunteers can call 573-707-5532 or visit spvolunteer.org for more information and registration. Safety orientations are held each day at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church at 551 N. Westwood Blvd., Poplar Bluff.

“We don’t need any specific skill sets. We can use anybody that wants to volunteer, that has a willing heart,” Schultz said. Volunteers must be 14 or older.