- Members of Salvation Army of Bainbridge to be deployed again in response to Milton.
- Despite both storms bypassing the Bainbridge area the community it stepping up to support neighbors in South Georgia and Florida.
- Watch the story to hear why people in the are did not hesitate to travel hours from home to support those devastated by recent hurricanes.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Despite back-to back storms bypassing the Bainbridge area, people here are extending a helping hand to neighbors in South Georgia and Florida.
“There was a need… That's it. There was a need and let's go get it done,” said Donald Bowersox.
Bowersox wears many titles, including board member, volunteer and -
"Marine core 28 years,” said Bowersox.
Bainbridge Salvation Army members were initially called to Douglas for a two-day stint after Helene.
Then, they moved to Valdosta for 12 days.
While there, they served 30,661 hot meals for people without power.
This was done in partnership with Georgia Baptist Association.
"Once you start seeing the people you realize how desperate they are.. It reminded me of when we were going through Hurricane Michael,” said Merreanne Mcdonald, director of the Salvation Army of Bainbridge
Mcdonald said after neighboring communities experienced two extreme disasters with Helene and Milton, locals came to her wanting to help.
To qualify for deployment volunteers must first train through an online course.
"You need to take our introduction to disasters, safe from harm, and serve safe food handling,” said Mcdonald.
Frequent volunteers like Bowersox say people in Bainbridge are more than willing to travel just to help those impacted by the recent hurricanes.
"There's some real good folks here in Bainbridge,” said Bowersox.
Salvation Army members are expected to deploy again to serve hot meals to those impacted by Milton.
If you would like to take the online training to join a deployment team in the future, reach out to your local Salvation Army.
