Parishes Respond to God’s Grace, I Wanted To Do My Part To HelpOctober 4, 2019 • Nina Keck  • REACHING OUT • STEWARDSHIP • YOUNG ADULTS

Upper School Students Rio Knowles and Killian Wright in front of one of several truckloads of donations. ​PHOTO: Courtesy of All Saints Academy​

The offices at All Saints Academy were overflowing with everything from canned goods and paper products to hammers and nails. PHOTO: Courtesy of All Saints Academy​

All Saints Academy, Winter Haven, spent the week of September 9 collecting supplies for the hardest-hit areas of the Bahamas.  Upper School student Rio Knowles coordinated the school’s efforts.​

Rio felt compassion when she saw the news footage on the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. “I was watching the hurricane coverage on the news and saw how most people in the Bahamas lost everything, especially on the smaller islands,” she explains. “I saw videos of people begging for help and destroyed houses.”​​

“I wanted to do my part to help, so I reached out to my Headmaster to see if I could ask for donations from the families of All Saints Academy.” She received permission, and with assistance from the Student Council and Key Club, the school was able to collect several truckloads of supplies.  All donations are on their way to the Bahamas on a barge.

A volunteer at Mission Flight International carries a box of supplies. PHOTO: Courtesy of Trinity Episcopal Church

A friend alerted Janet Barkett, Trinity Episcopal Church, Vero Beach, the efforts of Missionary Flight International to help Dorian survivors.

“MFI is a missionary group that provides aid to the Caribbean,” ​explains Barkett. “They were making two and three flights a week to the Bahamas.” She decided that she wanted to be part of their efforts. ​

“I approached Fr. Chris Rodriguez about the parish taking part in this, and he said, ‘Yes!'” ​

Parishioners were quick to gather supplies and drop them off at the church office or bring them to church services. “They brought in hygiene items, canned goods with pull tabs, paper goods, and medicine.” Barkett loaded them into a van and dropped them off at the MFI hangar. They were on the next flight out.

Dennis and Marianne Beck are ready to drive their supply-filled van to St. Luke and St. Peter Episcopal in St. Cloud. Theirs was one of two vans used to transport the supplies. PHOTO: Kay Ruhle​

Gary Ruhle finishes packing his van. He and his wife Deacon Kay Ruhle drove the van to St. Luke and St. Peter in St. Cloud. From there, the supplies were sent to the coast for shipment to the Bahamas. PHOTO: Kay Ruhle​

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Winter Haven, collected a wide array of supplies for Hurricane Dorian survivors. “We received an email from Fr. Chris Braithwaite of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. It included a very detailed list of supplies that were needed in the Bahamas. He also included a contact name of someone who would help us get them to a gathering point for shipping.”

“This became a personal mission for two of our parishioners, Marion and Dennis Beck,” says Deacon Kay Ruhle. They are an itinerant ministry couple to the islands and have longtime friends who lived through Dorian. This is near and dear to their hearts.” ​

The Hurricane Relief Drive lasted four days. The list of supplies needed for the Bahamas was posted on the church’s Facebook page. The list included tarps, wrenches, hammers, nails, batteries and lights.

The supplies were delivered to St. Luke and St. Peter Episcopal Church in St. Cloud by Deacon Kay and her husband Gary and the Becks. “The supplies were being sent to the coast from St. Cloud,” clarifies Ruhle.