CBN's Operation Blessing Disaster Relief Team Now Coordinating Volunteer Efforts in Louisiana

CBN's Operation Blessing (OB), the international humanitarian organization based in Virginia Beach, Va., has deployed its U.S. Disaster Relief Team and a convoy of equipment to Houma, Louisiana to assist with relief efforts following Hurricane Ida.

The OB base of operations has been set up on the grounds of Life Church located at 2324 Coteau Road #3700. The team is asking Houma homeowners whose homes were damaged in the storm to come to the church and fill out a work order request for free volunteer help. 

Volunteers Needed

The disaster relief team will begin accepting and coordinating local day volunteers beginning Thursday, Sept. 2.

Volunteers should meet at Life Church. Orientation times are 8:30 am and 1:00 pm. Day volunteers do not need to register in advance. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old, dress appropriately for work in the field (long pants and hard-soled shoes or work boots), and provide their own transportation to and from the worksite. For more info on volunteer opportunities, please call 1-800-730-2537.

Homeowners Needing Help

Homeowners are invited to come in person to fill out a work request for FREE volunteer help at Life Church daily from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. All homeowners must fill out a work order form and sign a release form in person, allowing volunteer teams access to your property. 

Volunteers will not be able to do work without a form SIGNED BY THE HOMEOWNER. Priority is given based on need (elderly, sick, disabled, etc) and is based on volunteer availability. Volunteer services offered include debris removal and help to find and sort salvageable belongings. 

For more information on how to apply for help, call 1-800-730-2537.

COVID-19 Note: Volunteers and homeowners must wear masks while at the Operation Blessing base of operations and in the field when social distancing is not possible. For any questions about volunteering, please call OB's national volunteer hotline at 1-800-730-2537.

To donate to the Louisiana relief efforts: https://www.ob.org/disaster-relief/

An advance team and equipment caravan departed from Operation Blessing's headquarters in Virginia Beach last weekend and pre-staged at the organization's warehouse in Bristol, Tenn., and in Tupelo, Miss., until the storm passed. Team leaders arrived in Houma Tuesday to assess the damage and meet with local emergency management officials to determine the areas of greatest need. 

The caravan and additional emergency equipment will be in place Thursday and includes a construction trailer and box truck filled with equipment and supplies, and a mobile kitchen capable of serving thousands of hot meals per day to residents, first responders, and volunteers, an 80kW Kohler generator, and several other trucks.

Operation Blessing's food ministry, the Hunger Strike Force, has also deployed multiple truckloads of drinking water and non-perishable foods to partners in Mandeville, New Orleans, Laplace, Slidell, and Houma.

Operation Blessing was the first responder when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005 and spent two-and-a-half-years providing relief efforts there, including 265,000 hours of volunteer service, running a free medical clinic that served over 30,000 people with free doctor care and free prescriptions, treating thousands of stagnant swimming pools with mosquito-eating fish to avert a disease outbreak, preparing over 1 million free meals to emergency responders and volunteers, donating an entire fleet of busses to St. Bernard Parrish for transportation of relief workers and volunteers, and providing roughly $5 million in cash grants to local nonprofit organizations for relief efforts. 

Based in Virginia Beach, Va, Operation Blessing provides humanitarian services such as strategic disaster relief, medical care, hunger relief, and clean water. Founded in 1978, the humanitarian organization has touched the lives of millions of people in more than 90 countries and territories, including the U.S. 

For more information about Operation Blessing, please visit www.ob.org.

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