Feb. 22, 2000

Camilla, Georgia, USA .... [ANN] 

Two days after a pair of fierce tornados touched down in Southwest Georgia on February 14, killing 22 people, destroying more than 300 homes, and injuring hundreds of residents in its 10-mile path, Adventist Community Services (ACS) opened an 18,000 square-foot collection and distribution warehouse in the hardest hit town of Camilla, at the request of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA).

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Photos by Julio Munoz
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“I was in the storm and I lost my house,” said one woman who came to the multi-agency warehouse to gather a much needed supply of non-perishable and frozen food items, water, personal hygiene materials, clothes, and shoes. “It was so devastating, I don’t want to talk about it,” she said.

The woman was one of an estimated 1,200 individuals from more than 350 households served at the warehouse during the first three days it was open. Accompanied by one of the nearly 200 warehouse volunteers, she was able to choose groceries and supplies as needed.

“We are here to help the community and will keep this warehouse open as long as it is needed-as long as it takes for our friends and neighbors to re-establish their lives,” said Carolyn Lipscomb, co-director of Adventist Community Services for South Georgia. Lipscomb and her co-director husband, Hew, have worked in disaster response in the region for the past five years. While heading to Camilla in their camper, the couple began working to secure a warehouse early Monday, hours after the tornados hit. That afternoon, a local company provided a building, and truck loads of donated goods began arriving.

Buddy Clark, a nearby resident who volunteered at the warehouse each day says he knows what it’s like to suffer loss. “I’ve been there. In the past I’ve lost everything I had and I know what it’s like to be in need,” he said.  “I’ve been totally overwhelmed to see that there’s a religious group that will take the bull by the horns and run with it like you [Adventists] have in organizing this warehouse.”

Sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, ACS is a national humanitarian agency providing disaster relief and initiating community action programs. [Celeste Ryan/ANN Staff]

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