[maryanna630]

Is it just me or am I just misinformed? We have many churches in the Villages and many quite wealthy. I have not seen any offers of shelter, aid, sustenance etc.
i hope I am wrong; can someone inform me?
Also today I saw photos of Winn Dixie trashing 1000s of pounds of expired meats, frozen goods etc. This seems a terrible waste to me. Could not they have offered the food prior to spoilage to anyone who could pick it up?
I know it is easy to criticize but if I had known, I woild have been willing to help. There are so many needy people in our area.

[Carl in Tampa]

Originally Posted by maryanna630

Is it just me or am I just misinformed? We have many churches in the Villages and many quite wealthy. I have not seen any offers of shelter, aid, sustenance etc.
i hope I am wrong; can someone inform me?
Also today I saw photos of Winn Dixie trashing 1000s of pounds of expired meats, frozen goods etc. This seems a terrible waste to me. Could not they have offered the food prior to spoilage to anyone who could pick it up?
I know it is easy to criticize but if I had known, I woild have been willing to help. There are so many needy people in our area.

The Villages was not a disaster area. If you have been reading the threads you know that very few people report even minor damage to their homes. Are you aware of some unmet need for shelter, aid, or sustenance in The Villages?

With regard to Winn Dixie trashing meats, I don't believe they were "expired" meats, but rather spoiled meats. It is likely that the store lost electrical power and the meat thawed. When that happens the store is obligated to destroy the meat. Even if power is restored, they cannot allow the meat to be re-frozen and kept.

For over 30 years my son was a refrigeration technician, servicing major supermarkets. He tells me that a few years ago, after experiencing great losses when a store lost power, it became policy in Publix stores to invest in an emergency generator for each store to keep the frozen cases intact during a power loss.

Also, with regard to churches providing aid during disasters, you need to know that the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief program is one of the three largest and most active non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the nation. The other two are the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

The Baptist disaster relief teams include chain saw teams for clearing fallen trees off of people's homes; mud-out teams for putting blue tarps on damaged roofs and cleaning out homes damaged by rising water; sanitation teams that bring trailers containing portable toilets and clothes washers and driers; water purification teams that take local water which might be contaminated and by using filters and chemicals making it drinkable; professional electricians who work to restore electrical service; and semi-trailers holding complete professional kitchens which can produce thousands of meals each day for delivery to people in Emergency Shelters, and also communications teams which coordinate the work of all the foregoing teams through the use of Amateur (Ham) Radio by federally licensed operators. (I am one.)

They also bring massive generators to provide electrical power for the encampment that bringing in all of these teams and their equipment involves.

It often goes something like this: the Red Cross administers emergency shelters. The Salvation Army delivers food to the Baptists who prepare it in their kitchens, and then the Salvation Army delivers the meals to the shelters.

At the same time, the other teams that provide services in the main to homeowners in distress due to fallen trees or rising waters are out providing their services.

When word of the impending strike of hurricane Harvey to the Texas coast became known, thousands of Texas Southern Baptists immediately prepared to respond to the disaster. Much of their communications in preparation were on Ham radio, which I could monitor. In fact, teams from my church in Tampa began preparing to head for Texas, but their plans changed when we realized what a menace to Florida the hurricane Irma had become.

The protocol is that Southern Baptists from the affected state respond first. Baptists come from other states upon request.

All of these people are Volunteers. There are a few full time employees of the State Conventions to provide continuity of operations and activation of resources, but the Volunteers are not only unpaid; they pay their own way to get to the place where they will work. They accept no money from the people who they help. Their motivation is to demonstrate the Love of Jesus in action.

As I said, the Southern Baptists are one of the "big three" NGOs, and I'll bet that until today you never heard of them.

Disaster Relief Overview |
NAMB

[Carl in Tampa]

Below are a couple of photos of actual disaster relief deployment, and one of the big trailers.

[CassieInVa]

As far as the Winn-Dixie situation, I am assuming that employees went home to weather the hurricane and during that time food spoiled when power failed. Once it is already thawed and spoiled, and by the time they got there to assess it, it was too late to safely give the food away.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[vorage]

Carl in Tampa,
Thank you for such an informative post. I knew all these groups were involved, but had no idea how coordinated it was, or how big a role each played.
Prayers for all those who are struggling with such immense damage and for those who are helping. The emotional toll alone must be staggering.

[aninjamom]

I do know that Oxford Assembly of God was sheltering anyone that needed it during the hurricane. They had generators. Unfortunately now they are still without power.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa

The Villages was not a disaster area. If you have been reading the threads you know that very few people report even minor damage to their homes. Are you aware of some unmet need for shelter, aid, or sustenance in The Villages?

With regard to Winn Dixie trashing meats, I don't believe they were "expired" meats, but rather spoiled meats. It is likely that the store lost electrical power and the meat thawed. When that happens the store is obligated to destroy the meat. Even if power is restored, they cannot allow the meat to be re-frozen and kept.

For over 30 years my son was a refrigeration technician, servicing major supermarkets. He tells me that a few years ago, after experiencing great losses when a store lost power, it became policy in Publix stores to invest in an emergency generator for each store to keep the frozen cases intact during a power loss.

Also, with regard to churches providing aid during disasters, you need to know that the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief program is one of the three largest and most active non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the nation. The other two are the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

The Baptist disaster relief teams include chain saw teams for clearing fallen trees off of people's homes; mud-out teams for putting blue tarps on damaged roofs and cleaning out homes damaged by rising water; sanitation teams that bring trailers containing portable toilets and clothes washers and driers; water purification teams that take local water which might be contaminated and by using filters and chemicals making it drinkable; professional electricians who work to restore electrical service; and semi-trailers holding complete professional kitchens which can produce thousands of meals each day for delivery to people in Emergency Shelters, and also communications teams which coordinate the work of all the foregoing teams through the use of Amateur (Ham) Radio by federally licensed operators. (I am one.)

They also bring massive generators to provide electrical power for the encampment that bringing in all of these teams and their equipment involves.

It often goes something like this: the Red Cross administers emergency shelters. The Salvation Army delivers food to the Baptists who prepare it in their kitchens, and then the Salvation Army delivers the meals to the shelters.

At the same time, the other teams that provide services in the main to homeowners in distress due to fallen trees or rising waters are out providing their services.

When word of the impending strike of hurricane Harvey to the Texas coast became known, thousands of Texas Southern Baptists immediately prepared to respond to the disaster. Much of their communications in preparation were on Ham radio, which I could monitor. In fact, teams from my church in Tampa began preparing to head for Texas, but their plans changed when we realized what a menace to Florida the hurricane Irma had become.

The protocol is that Southern Baptists from the affected state respond first. Baptists come from other states upon request.

All of these people are Volunteers. There are a few full time employees of the State Conventions to provide continuity of operations and activation of resources, but the Volunteers are not only unpaid; they pay their own way to get to the place where they will work. They accept no money from the people who they help. Their motivation is to demonstrate the Love of Jesus in action.

As I said, the Southern Baptists are one of the "big three" NGOs, and I'll bet that until today you never heard of them.

Disaster Relief Overview |
NAMB

Thanks for posting this Carl in Tampa. Churches have been doing great work for victims/survivors for decades in many areas not just disaster relief.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by maryanna630

Is it just me or am I just misinformed? We have many churches in the Villages and many quite wealthy. I have not seen any offers of shelter, aid, sustenance etc.
i hope I am wrong; can someone inform me?
Also today I saw photos of Winn Dixie trashing 1000s of pounds of expired meats, frozen goods etc. This seems a terrible waste to me. Could not they have offered the food prior to spoilage to anyone who could pick it up?
I know it is easy to criticize but if I had known, I woild have been willing to help. There are so many needy people in our area.

This was and is an unprecedented and very unlikely event here in Central Florida. Kind and loving church people probably are scrambling to have plans in place we aren't aware of to help. Perhaps if you call your church and tell them you are willing to help organize and oversee the things you see missing. Or choose mine.

Winn Dixie was probably not aware their generators failed until after the fact and it is possible that by then the unfrozen meats had warmed to a doubtful temperature for safety. Winn-Dixie would be just like me, unsure to offer food that had gotten too warm to anyone.

[redwitch]

Winn-Dixie has a program that food banks get stuff five days a week. Had you read the article about the spoiled food, you'd have seen that their generator ran out of gas and they were forced to throw out all refrigerated/frozen food.

The churches are collecting donations left, right and center from their congregations and the community.

Most are helping the best way they can. To imply otherwise is just not right.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa

The Villages was not a disaster area. If you have been reading the threads you know that very few people report even minor damage to their homes. Are you aware of some unmet need for shelter, aid, or sustenance in The Villages?

With regard to Winn Dixie trashing meats, I don't believe they were "expired" meats, but rather spoiled meats. It is likely that the store lost electrical power and the meat thawed. When that happens the store is obligated to destroy the meat. Even if power is restored, they cannot allow the meat to be re-frozen and kept.

For over 30 years my son was a refrigeration technician, servicing major supermarkets. He tells me that a few years ago, after experiencing great losses when a store lost power, it became policy in Publix stores to invest in an emergency generator for each store to keep the frozen cases intact during a power loss.

Also, with regard to churches providing aid during disasters, you need to know that the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief program is one of the three largest and most active non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the nation. The other two are the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

The Baptist disaster relief teams include chain saw teams for clearing fallen trees off of people's homes; mud-out teams for putting blue tarps on damaged roofs and cleaning out homes damaged by rising water; sanitation teams that bring trailers containing portable toilets and clothes washers and driers; water purification teams that take local water which might be contaminated and by using filters and chemicals making it drinkable; professional electricians who work to restore electrical service; and semi-trailers holding complete professional kitchens which can produce thousands of meals each day for delivery to people in Emergency Shelters, and also communications teams which coordinate the work of all the foregoing teams through the use of Amateur (Ham) Radio by federally licensed operators. (I am one.)

They also bring massive generators to provide electrical power for the encampment that bringing in all of these teams and their equipment involves.

It often goes something like this: the Red Cross administers emergency shelters. The Salvation Army delivers food to the Baptists who prepare it in their kitchens, and then the Salvation Army delivers the meals to the shelters.

At the same time, the other teams that provide services in the main to homeowners in distress due to fallen trees or rising waters are out providing their services.

When word of the impending strike of hurricane Harvey to the Texas coast became known, thousands of Texas Southern Baptists immediately prepared to respond to the disaster. Much of their communications in preparation were on Ham radio, which I could monitor. In fact, teams from my church in Tampa began preparing to head for Texas, but their plans changed when we realized what a menace to Florida the hurricane Irma had become.

The protocol is that Southern Baptists from the affected state respond first. Baptists come from other states upon request.

All of these people are Volunteers. There are a few full time employees of the State Conventions to provide continuity of operations and activation of resources, but the Volunteers are not only unpaid; they pay their own way to get to the place where they will work. They accept no money from the people who they help. Their motivation is to demonstrate the Love of Jesus in action.

As I said, the Southern Baptists are one of the "big three" NGOs, and I'll bet that until today you never heard of them.

Disaster Relief Overview |
NAMB

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa

Below are a couple of photos of actual disaster relief deployment, and one of the big trailers.

......And that is what is known as "walking the walk." (Not just "talking the talk.")

[maryanna630]

Glad to hear. While this is not a disaster area. Many homes and businesses in spanish springs and the historic side are still out of power.
Our neighborhood is establishing a drop off area for distribution of food and ice, flashlights etc. and we will do what we can.
Sams is still closed and home depot is running on generators.
I hope the power comes on today for these people.

[NotGolfer]

Stores are obligated to throw out the food (even "IF" it looks fine) due to liability and other reasons. Did you know "IF" you take back a can or whatever because you by mistake picked it up, that they can't resell it? I would say that churches are helping (person by person) and doing whatever they can. They just don't advertise it....like saying "look at what we're doing!"

An article in today's Sun talked about the meals for shut-ins. They had a generator at their location but it didn't turn on SOOOO they had to hard-scramble (Publix at S.T. helped them out) to find something(s) to make a sack lunch.