Group Raising Funds For Disaster Equipment

By Craig Day, News On 6

OWASSO, OK -- A Green Country group is raising funds for a special piece of equipment that helps during disasters. It will help them feed thousands of people in need, be it during hurricanes like Ike and Gustav or devastating tornados closer to home.

While more Southern Baptist disaster relief teams from Northeastern Oklahoma prepare to leave to help with Hurricane Ike and Gustav relief efforts, back home a drive is underway to help the volunteers with future disasters.

Disaster relief workers in the group's North Tulsa zone, which covers parts of Tulsa, Owasso, Collinsville and Skiatook, hope to raise money to buy a small feeding unit like this one.

"Primarily, the small feeding units are used right here in our backyard, although they can go to Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri and other places like that," said Owasso resident, Rob Rizzo.

The feeding unit is a specially equipped 20 to 24 foot trailer which enables volunteers to feed 1,500 to 3,000 meals a day. The specially equipped trailer is similar to ones used during the Picher tornado and would improve the group's response time when there's another disaster.

"If you have another Picher, that's in Northeastern Oklahoma you have a unit already here, ready to go," said Rizzo.

"Basically in this area would be for like massive fires, or tornados or ice storms, things that people just need us for a couple of weeks to get them over the hump," said Owasso resident, Mike Maxwell.

Southern Baptist Relief Workers hope to raise funds to cover the $30,000 cost from donations from 40 different Southern Baptist churches. They hope to order the trailer and equipment this fall, and have it ready to respond by the spring storm season.

Southern Baptist Disaster relief teams are leaving Northeast Oklahoma to help hurricane victims.

A 30 member team is heading out of Muskogee to help in Baton Rouge and teams from Sapulpa and Owasso are leaving to help in Texas.