Courtesy photo

Dottie McCullen, president, United Way of Sampson County, presents a check for $5,000 to the Rev. Dr. Paul Langston, interim director of the Sampson Disaster Recovery Coalition (SDRC). The funds from United Waywere given to the Eastern Baptist Association to help tornado victims identified by the SDRC.

slideshow

The Sampson County United Way continues to provided needed assistance to those who were impacted by the April 16 tornadoes. Nancy Carr, executive director for the local United Way, shared that the organization has received a grant in the sum of $5,000 to help with the tornado disaster.

“We are so pleased to have received a third of the funds that were available from the grant source,” expressed Carr during an interview late last week.

She explained that the Wayne County United Way and the Cape Fear United Way chapters donated a total of $15,000 to provide the grant for area chapters in need of assistance following the tornadoes. Wayne donated $5,000 and Cape Fear contributed $10,000 for tornado relief. Sampson, along with Baden, Lee and Albemarle, were recipients of those funds.

“The purpose of the funds is to ensure victims/survivors receive help with needs not covered by insurance, FEMA or other state of federal programs,” asserted the executive director. The grant money was donated to the Eastern Baptist Association based on four areas where the grant funds were proposed to be used in the request.

The first category of funds will be used to replace materials used from emergency roof repairs by the EBA. The tarps were placed on leaking roofs to protect homes until permanent repairs could be made. The total of the grant request was $812. The second request for funding was the most and totaled $3,599. The purpose of the request was for materials for permanent roof replacements. These funds also went to the EBA for work they have completed as well as ongoing work. Materials for a wheelchair ramp for a tornado victim was the third request, at a total of $500. The victim’s home was destroyed by the tornado. The grant request was for the lumber to build a new ramp. The EBA supplied the manpower at no charge. The final request was for two air conditioning units for a family of seven who were forced to find new housing as a result of the tornado. There were six children in the home under the age of 16. The family was forced to obtain housing without air conditioning due to their budget constraints. The EBA would purchase the units and install them at no charge. The grant request amounted to $858.

Carr stated that the grant of $5,000 was not enough to fully cover the expenses incurred by the EBA on these four projects but that the Bible school at Maple Grove United Methodist Church had donated $143 to help out.“One ,7-year old brought all the pennies she had been saving in a small coke bottle which amounted to $5. This goes to show that small gifts can make a big difference, too. We are hoping other organizations, groups and individuals will also continue to contribute to help in this ongoing recovery from the tornadoes,” said Carr.

United Way of Sampson County has been and continues to work with the Sampson Disater Recovery Coalition in assisting victims of the April storms.

“We are so grateful for the contributions that have been shared. As we begin to kick off our 2012 campaign next month, we hope people will understand without their continued help we will not continue to be able to assist all those requesting help from us as we attempt to serve the citizens of the county,” concluded Carr.