Joel's Jottings: Tornado Victim Assistance

Springtime storms and tornadoes are all too common across the South. You may have experienced one of them. I have, and it changed me forever.

Last Friday night a tornado came through the Mississippi Delta and wiped the town of Rolling Fork off the map. Sunday night storms came through Central Mississippi and wreaked havoc. Many people are displaced and businesses upended. There have also been deaths.

How We Can Help

Many organizations and individuals are responding. The Presbytery of Mississippi has organized an effort to create hygiene kits. A kit should include the following:

• 1 — hand towel (approximately 16" x 28", no fingertip or bath towels)

• 1 — washcloth

• 1 — wide-tooth comb (remove from package)

• 1 — nail clipper (UPDATE: nail clippers with metal files or emery boards attached are now accepted; remove from package)

• 1 — bar of soap (bath size in wrapper)

• 1 — toothbrush (in original packaging)

• 1 — tube of toothpaste

• 10 — Band-Aids® or other adhesive bandage strips

Seal all items in a one-gallon plastic bag with a zipper closure.

Please deliver the kits to the church, and we will distribute them from here. Of course, these kits are not all that is needed. Please support other relief efforts to which you are connected.