NORFOLK, Va. — Organizations from Hampton Roads mobilized Saturday to get help to those who need it after devastating flooding in Kentucky.
Mercy Chefs and Operation Blessing started working as early as Friday to send help to people in Kentucky after devastating floods left 24,000 Kentuckians without power.
Mercy Chefs is a Virginia-based disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization that serves chef-prepared meals in national emergencies and natural disasters.
The organization said in a news release that it deployed its services to Whitesburg, Kentucky where it will serve its first meals Saturday evening at Letcher County Central High School.
“The flooding has been horrible," said Gary LeBlanc, the founder and CEO of Mercy Chefs. "They say its 7 feet over anything they've seen in history."
They will serve lunch and dinner from the high school for at least the next few days, and the team will be distributing meals to other more rural locations.
Mercy Chef's community kitchen in Paducah, KY has already began preparing bakery items to transport to the eastern part of the state in the coming days, the organization said.
“I get asked all the time: 'Why do you do this? Why do you leave home, sleep on the floor? Why do you do the long days?' But I think the bigger question is, I don't understand why more people don't do this," LeBlanc said. "The opportunity to come help your fellow humanity is just an overwhelming privilege. It's an honor that I get to come and serve people on what can very well be the worst day of their life, Mercy Chefs shows up with a beautiful meal and a warm hug."
Virginia Beach based Operation Blessing announced Friday that it was preparing a trailer-truck full of bottled water and dozens of flood relief kits.
Dan Moore, Operation Blessing's director of church partnerships and ministry support for US Disaster Relief said the damage is widespread.
“It’s devastating, the flooding in Kentucky," Moore said. "Homes floating down rivers, and people on their roofs, and those being rescued – it just breaks your heart.”
The relief kits were donated by The Home Depot Foundation. Each kit includes items such as garbage bags, paper towels, cleaners, hand sanitizer, scour pads, gloves, and N95 masks, the organization said.
“Anything that somebody could use to begin to get back on their feet," Moore said. "It’s gripping when you just see these people in such dire need.”
The truck was expected to depart from Operation Blessing’s Bristol, TN warehouse Saturday, the organization said.
As of Saturday morning, 25 people have died as a result of the flooding. Six of those people were children.
“It’s times like this that we feel so blessed to have bases strategically placed across the country,” LeBlanc said. "We are committed to serving hot meals—and a helping of hope—to victims and first responders."