Haiti Disaster Relief Effort

 

N.M. Sends Haiti 2,438 ‘Buckets of Hope’
By John Loudat
 
        After a devastating earthquake shook the nation of Haiti Jan. 12, New Mexico Baptist Disaster Relief estimated that New Mexico Baptists could contribute around 2,100 buckets filled with food for victims. They could, and they did, send that and another 300-plus “Buckets of Hope” to the Gulf Coast to join another 150,000 buckets expected from Southern Baptists nationwide for shipment to Haiti.
        The buckets began arriving at Alpha-Omega Power Technologies on Monday, March 8; and they were all prepared when semi-trucks began arriving one week later to pick them up. The 2,438 buckets from New Mexico completely filled two semis and half-filled a third.
        Ray Cravey, a member of Sandia Baptist Church in Albuquerque, was an answer to the prayers of NMBDR “white hat” coordinator Ed Greene, who headed up the project to receive the items and get them ready for shipment. The first thing Greene needed was a place to collect the buckets for one week, and Cravey’s building met the need.
        Churches that didn’t deliver their buckets to Alpha-Omega themselves took them to their association, which made sure that they made it to Albuquerque.
        Upon arrival in Albuquerque, NMBDR volunteers applied labels that said, “This ‘Bucket of Hope’ is a gift of love from Southern Baptists to the people of Haiti,” in English, French and Creole; put 36 buckets on each of 936 pallets and applied shrink wrap around the buckets and pallets.
        The North American Mission Board then sent semis to pick up the buckets and take them to locations along the Gulf Coast, where they will be placed in cargo containers for shipment to Haiti. They will be delivered to quake victims by their Baptist neighbors.
        Each five-gallon bucket contained rice, cooking oil, dry black beans, all-purpose flour, white sugar, spaghetti noodles, peanut butter and a zip-lock plastic storage bag. Donors also were asked to include a $10 cash contribution—placed in an envelope and attached to the bucket’s lid—to help with the costs of shipping the buckets to Haiti.
        After the food has been consumed, each bucket will remain as a handy item for use by the Haitian family.
        What R. Maurice Hollingsworth said of the church he pastors could be said of the Baptists across the state who enthusiastically responded to the opportunity to help Haitians in their time of great need.
        “The members of our church were overwhelmed by the scope of human need and felt compelled to respond in prayer and with a hands-on manner to human suffering,” said the pastor of First Baptist Church, Las Cruces.
        Churches across Rio Grande Baptist Association delivered 144 buckets to First Baptist for delivery to Albuquerque. That generosity was repeated across the state in Southeastern Baptist Association, which collected another 167 buckets from its churches, and in associations all across the Land of Enchantment.
        Mickey Noah of NAMB contributed to this story.