Dedicated volunteers weather the storm
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While recording some of the humanitarian efforts of the Church, I had the opportunity to sleep in the Bishop's Storehouse/Hurricane Command Center in Houston, Texas, for three nights, starting Sept. 12, the night Hurricane Ike hit.
Though the eye of the storm passed within one mile of us, no one slackened their efforts.
I was most impressed with the untiring dedication of volunteers there who weathered the storm and worked relentlessly to keep the command center operational. When electrical power was lost in the height of the storm, Randy Ellis, cannery manager and disaster volunteer, went outside in hurricane-force rain and winds to start the emergency generator. This was essential to keep the center operational.
For nearly 18 hours a day, Bennie Lilly, Area Welfare Manager for the Southwest Area, worked the phones and coordinated the relief effort with 15 stake presidents. John Larsen, a veteran of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, assisted in logistics involving more than 100 wards in the affected area. Without being asked, Diane Larsen prepared food for those hunkered down in the command center for several days, in addition to helping her husband.
James Kranker delivered supplies several hours each day in addition to his regular trucking job. Equally impressive were those members who left the comfort of their homes outside the storm area to deliver fuel and needed supplies. Their efforts, along with countless others, helped ensure that the hundreds of volunteer members in the affected area received needed tools and supplies to help others. I will never forget the unflagging efforts and get-it-done attitude of these and countless other members.
