The good Samaritans include members of SouthBrook Church in Miamisburg. Lead catalyzer/pastor Charlie McMahan posed a challenge to church members on Jan. 31 to donate water.
When the city of Flint, Mich., switched its water supply in April 2014 from Detroit to the Flint River to save money for the city, the high content of chloride in the water corroded the insides of decades-old lead pipes. Weeks later, brownish-yellow water flowed from faucets in thousands of homes in Flint. Many residents, especially small children, have become ill as a result of drinking the contaminated water.
The water flow was switched back to the earlier route from Detroit in October of last year, but the water is still considered unsafe to drink.
On Super Bowl weekend, in early February, 14.5 pallets of water were donated to SouthBrook’s effort, along with 2 pallets that were provided by Lowe’s Home Improvement by the Dayton Mall. The 16.5 pallets equals 990 cases of water, or approximately 23,760 bottles.
Thirty-six SouthBrook disaster response team members collected the bottled water from behind donators’ cars in the parking lot, stacked the cases on pallets and shrink-wrapped each pallet. On Feb. 8, six additional team members loaded the water into a donated truck/trailer. Jet Express Trucking donated it, with a driver, to deliver the load to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in Flint on Feb. 12.
“We called it Operation H2O,” said disaster response coordinator Dick Wilson. “The response was great. SouthBrookers come through every time they are asked to help people in need.”
SouthBrook Christian Church is growing and will be reaching out to others in need who live in the West Chester-Liberty Twp. area. SouthBrook is opening its second location on March 27 with two Easter Sunday services, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. The church plant is housed in the Lakota East Freshman building, 7630 Bethany Road. Joe Boyd is the lead teacher; the teaching pastor is Laura Buffington.
“SouthBrook Miamisburg is a recovery-based church, and, similarly, SouthBrook Liberty will also be strongly focused on reaching and serving people in the community who may be struggling with addiction issues,” McMahan said. “People’s lives will be saved from heroine abuse, alcoholism and other forms of drug abuse because of our Recovery Ministry. Marriages will in turn be saved and families will be strengthened.”
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