Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has provided One Great Hour of Sharing funds to the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy to aid in their response to the storm and severe heat wave that has affected thousands of households in the St. Louis Metropolitan area, five Missouri counties and several Illinois counties.

In addition to providing immediate food and other relief to disaster survivors, funds are being used in a joint Presbyterian-Episcopalian project for Older Adult Ministries. A report on the Presbytery’s response will be on the PDA website.

Following is a report of the situation from Paul T. Reiter, D. Min, Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy:

In July, the Greater St. Louis area was hit with severe weather that affected more than 700,000 homes and businesses. Major storms coming out of the Northeast devastated St. Louis with high winds (60-90 mph) and severe lightning. This was followed by a heat wave with temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, with a heat index the day after the storm of 120. A power outage lasting more than a week (July 19-July28) affected 500,000 households. The impact was felt in the St. Louis Metropolitan area alone, with five Missouri counties and several Illinois counties receiving state disaster declarations.

Particularly impacted were nine of the thirteen older adult facilities managed by St. Andrews Resources for Seniors, a ministry of Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery that is managed by the Presbyterian and Episcopalian churches in our area. I personally worked with the Executive Director to locate over 300 residents who were without power in the nine facilities. More than $100,000 has been spent on cots, mattresses, supplies and food in the older adult facilities alone.

In addition, there are hunger needs: Our Hunger Action Enabler, Karen Bradshaw-Miller, is making contact with our food pantry partners to assess needs and help them access further resources. After helping the food pantries tap into available local resources, the presbytery would like to make available grants to help our partners respond to the increased need in their communities. In particular funds will be made available to help food pantries purchase perishable foods that will not be available through the St. Louis Area Food Bank. The Hunger Action Enabler will work in conjunction with our Missional Outreach Team and its Hunger Action Committee and PDA National Response Team member Kelly Allen to distribute the funds for food assistance.

We have a formal relationship with eight pantries within the confines of our presbytery, and there are up to 12 more local congregations that operate food pantries without financial support from the presbytery's Hunger Action Team. Initial contact with these partner organizations and church based food pantries shows that the loss of food is immense. Through brief conversations with contact people at these organizations, we know that dozens of refrigerators and freezers full of food were lost. An organization focused on providing prepared food to individuals with HIV/AIDS lost over 9,700 individual meals. Another food pantry did not lose any food due to the power outage, but no longer has any food, as the devastation in that area is immense and the demand for food has skyrocketed. And these are just two examples.

What the presbytery is doing:

Regarding our older adults, we were able to find — through the generosity of Presbyterians — generators to keep 28 residents from leaving their building. We also worked with STARS in their securing cots, air mattresses, water and food and other supplies. As a presbytery we have given $2,500 toward this emergency.

Paul T. Reiter, D. Min
Executive Presbyter
Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy