Church Partners With Teams For Sandy’s Cleanup

Written by D.F. Karppi Tuesday, 20 November 2012 00:00

Volunteers from the Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief teams (SBCDR) from Kentucky and Illinois as well as two people from upstate New York were thanked at a dinner on Monday, Nov. 11. It was hosted  by their partners at the North Shore Community Church of Oyster Bay (NSCC). They had joined with them, right after Hurricane Sandy, as the teams volunteered to help with the cleanup — offering their services free. The church provided support services for the volunteers.

Dr. John Yenchko, NSCC pastor said, “Since Hurricane Sandy’s devastating blast across Long Island, the NSCC was trying to do its small part to help in the recovery effort.

“These remarkable SBCDR people brought trailers with chain saws, pumps, pails, mops and all kinds of sanitizing equipment to serve people who have fallen trees, flooded basements and various needs. They have worked at homes across the North Shore tirelessly and without cost, out of their love for God and love for people. You’ll recognize these people by their warm smiles and bright yellow shirts and pleasant Kentucky accents.

“NSCC is grateful to be a part of their support team with our finances, occasionally adding workers, but mostly housing, feeding, and praying for them,” he said. The workers slept in the church basement Sunday school rooms.

Pastor Yenchko added, “If you know of folks who are still struggling to clean out their basements or garages from the flooding or who have trees that need to be cut and stacked, let us know and one of the assessors will check out the job site.” He added, “If  anyone would like to contribute to their support while they are here, checks may be made out to the NSCC benevolent fund noting ‘disaster relief’ in the memo, and sent to the North Shore Community Church, 213 South St., Oyster Bay New York, 11771.”

Marvelous Work

Pastor John said, “The SBCDR team planned to be here until Tuesday, Nov. 20 but were heading home for Thanksgiving Day.” He said, “The team convenes every evening around 6 p.m. as our church hosts them for dinner. They have been on the road since the hurricane struck. I understand that they may be reassigned at some point to the South Shore or to New Jersey or to Freeport where there are significant needs. If they do we will partner with them again. Currently people are calling us and we are taking their information and doing assessments of the work needed, but as time runs out, we just can’t get to all the jobs we would like to complete.

“It’s amazing. They are professional. They don’t take a dime. We do support them as they are out there making a real difference.”

Helping In Bayville

Pastor Yenchko said the team was working in Bayville. “They do what is called ‘mud-outs’ which means they go into a basement with shovels and mops and remove all the sand and mud. At the high water mark they cut off the dry wall so they can let it dry out. They pull up carpets so they can be thrown out. Another team does tree work. They don’t climb trees but they cut up and stack those that have fallen. They help people get a semblance of order in their lives, when they need hope from the great burden of the storm. That is why we partnered with them immediately. The day after the storm I got the call. They knew about us, even though we are not Baptists, and we were willing to partner with them. Two teams came from Kentucky and one from Illinois.

“It’s our privilege to be able to help. We want to be the hands and feet of the lord in this hard time,” he said. For more information please call 922-7322 or visit northshorecommunitychurch.com