Poplar Bluff residents turned out en masse Monday to assemble donations for the battered community of Mayfield. The journey to deliver those donations took volunteers through extremes of both destruction and generosity as they ultimately traveled through three stricken communities.
United Gospel Rescue Mission and Footsteps Medical Missions, Inc. coordinated for the relief effort.
“It’s great to collaborate because to go into a place like that ... I wouldn’t have known who to see or what they needed or anything, but Dr. Wirz has a great team together,” said UGRM director Greg Kirk.
Kirk and his team unloaded only half of their supplies in Mayfield — mostly diapers, blankets and pillows — because that was all the town needed. However, organizers explained Dawson Springs, almost 90 miles away, was waiting to receive 10 generators and 50 gallons of fuel. Kirk agreed to haul it over and discovered that town was equally devastated.
“Everybody’s talking about how bad it is in Mayfield — and trust me, I was there, it is bad — but Dawson Springs got blown up the map, too. They said they’ve lost 75% of the town,” he reported.
They delivered generators and distributed more donations, but still had leftovers, because Dawson Springs was expecting donations of supplies and lumber. But Madisonville, another 40 miles away, needed goods. The UGRM truck pressed on and made its final deliveries after nightfall.
Despite visiting three towns, the truck was still not empty. Kirk’s team returned to Poplar Bluff at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning after a roughly 200-mile trip, with plans to do it all again. UGRM will size, box and palletize the coats for later delivery to neighborhoods that need them once the weather turns again. Home Depot is donating the boxes.
“I guarantee they’re gonna need those coats and so the Rescue Mission, we will be going back to take those coats,” Kirk said.
Kirk survived Terrible Tuesday, an EF-4 tornado that hit Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1997. The catastrophe in Kentucky eclipsed even that, he said — miles of interstate were bordered by massive twisted, broken and uprooted trees. The volunteers passed roofs without houses and overturned trailers. Intact structures invariably had their windows blown out. Power lines as well as cell service and water towers were knocked out. Gas had to be bought cash-only because without internet, registers could not process cards.
“I don’t even have any words to describe it,” Kirk said.
Seeing the devastation and speaking to survivors, he was astounded anyone made it out alive.
“There were people that died and that was terrible, but the amazing thing is that so many people lived — I mean, I don’t even know how they lived in it,” he said. “I talked to a guy, his house was totally ripped up, him and his wife ... didn’t get out quick enough, they were under their couch. Literally, the house and the couch were taken, they stayed. And when all the dust cleared, the Christmas tree was still sitting in the corner and not an ornament was broken.”
Infrastructure damage complicates disaster relief, as does the shifting nature of supply and need.
“Probably the biggest challenge was trying to make sure we got the right stuff there, because that’s continuously changing, and knowing where we can be the biggest help,” said Footsteps director Rick Wirz.
Footsteps originally planned to expand into disaster relief missions in 2022, but the board was called to action when last weekend’s tornadoes hit. It headed to Mayfield Friday night with two tractor trailers, stocking up in Dexter and Sikeston while another group came through Poplar Bluff searching for heaters. Businesses and individuals dropped everything to help shop, pay for supplies and load the trucks.
“We would have people just come up with cash donations, (saying) ‘Here, use this to buy whatever you need,’ and actually in the Dexter Walmart we had one lady pay for our entire purchase, which was over $5,000.”
Wirz said the outpouring of generosity brought him to tears.
“God comes out in people when something like this happens,” he said.
Footsteps is coordinating with UGRM and Project Hope in Cape Girardeau for later aid. Butler County continued to prove it takes charity seriously.
“I’m amazed. Poplar Bluff never lets me down,” said Kirk. “Who would think that you get on the radio at 7 in the morning, say you need a truck full of stuff — by 5 o’clock that night the truck’s so full you can’t shut the door. Now, that’s a miracle.”
The scale of infrastructure destruction means communities’ needs will be ongoing. Wirz said the best way to contribute is by donating money through accredited organizations like the Red Cross (redcross.org), and donations to Footsteps can also be earmarked for Mayfield (footstepsmedicalmissions.org). Of course, cash is only one way to help.
“The most important thing is just to keep them in your prayers,” Wirz said.