Saturday A.M. from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
It feels strange to be back in Hancock County where I served in the aftermath of Katrina when the vision for Mercy Chefs was birthed in my heart. I have a lot of friends here -- people I worked with 15 years ago. There are still abandoned homes that were never rebuilt after Katrina. The scars from that storm remain.
Now, as I look around, it's difficult to see so many properties that have suffered damage from Hurricane Zeta. A large boat now sits on a street. Shingles are blown off of home after home. Soon, this community will be blanketed in blue tarps which have become an all-too common sight in these disaster-struck communities.
+ + Serving hot meals to Zeta victims today
Our Mercy Chefs team served our first meals yesterday evening for dinner. As I write, we are working hard to get ready for meal service that will begin at noon today. We will be serving the community of Bay St. Louis as well as providing meals through remote locations across the Mississippi coast all the way to Biloxi. T
hese are the coastal communities that were most impacted by the storm and where the heaviest concentration of power outages is.
Our Mercy Chefs team is determined to meet every disaster and crisis of 2020 with excellent, high-quality hot meals for those in need. But as you know, every meal we serve depends on the generosity of friends like you. Will you help Mercy Chefs meet the needs of Zeta disaster victims this weekend? Go here to make your tax-deductible gift:
In a very real way, we are relying on friends like you even more right now. This is Mercy Chefs' sixth major storm response just since the summer. We simply could not have planned for this level of outreach. That's why your faithful support this weekend is so vital.
We've brought in staff and equipment from at least four states -- Oklahoma, Texas, Florida and Virginia. Mercy Chefs is here and we are working to meet the need. What you do to make this possible is just as important as the work of our chefs and volunteers here in Bay St. Louis.
Thanks in advance and God bless,
Gary LeBlanc, Mercy Chefs
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