Baptist disaster relief volunteers respond to Sandy

TULSA - Twenty volunteers from Oklahoma Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief are on their way to help victims of Hurricane Sandy.

They hit the road from Oklahoma City early Thursday morning, picking up additional volunteers as they traveled along I-44.

They are members of feeding teams that will provide hot meals to thousands of people who have been forced out of their homes by Sandy.

Dave Karr is a coordinator for Oklahoma Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief.

"We got a call from New York and they are needing a little assistance up there. So we are taking two feeding units up there, to prepare meals for people in shelters," Karr said.

Karr says the convoy of trucks and volunteers is set up to feed 15,000 people a day.

"That's why we are taking two units," he said. "The numbers of people in shelters, we understand, is quite great."

He hopes to arrive in New York by Friday afternoon.

The volunteers have come together from every corner of the state with one mission in mind --  to bring compassion to those whose lives have been devastated by the storm.

Their contribution goes beyond a hot meal. They are there to be a comfort to these victims in their time of need.

"We will guarantee everyone who is going on this trip will receive a blessing," Karr said.

Other Baptist volunteers could soon join them in the Northeast. Three chain saw teams and a team trained to help cleanup flood damage are on standby.

They could be deployed to the Northeast early next week, after damage assessments in several areas are complete.