Service with a smile, Texas style

BP photo by Jim Whitmer

Patty Pennington

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TEXAS CITY, Texas (FBW)–Blonde hair tucked under a bright yellow visor and her Florida Baptist Disaster Relief t-shirt sleeves slightly rolled, Patty Pennington is ready for another shift on the food line in Texas City.

The pastor’s wife and young grandmother, spunky in brown corduroys and a touch of mascara, isn’t complaining about the air mattress she slept on in a classroom at First Baptist Church in Texas City for nearly a week in September.

What she’ll remember about her trip to Texas City is the elderly man living in his car with the only thing he saved from the clutches of Hurricane Ike – a clock.

“It just breaks your heart,” Pennington said. “But every Southern Baptist needs the experience.”

At First Baptist Church in Navarre, Pennington said she and three other ladies elected to volunteer for the 14-hour days which began at 4 a.m., never before having been involved in such an effort.

“I will definitely do it again,” she said. “Absolutely.

“It’s not everything they need, but you are doing something,” Pennington said of the impact the volunteers make. “A smile, a friendly face, a word of encouragement. Our chaplains give out Bibles and do spiritual counseling as they go through the lines. It’s an incredible experience.”

FBC photo by Michael Duncan

FBDR volunteers Bobbie and Bill Stevenson (left), members of Terry Parker Baptist Church in Jacksonville, share a perch with an Alabama volunteer in Texas City.

Don Jones, a member of Grace Baptist Church in Eustis, who is with the Lake County Association’s disaster relief cleanup and recovery unit, was busy unloading about half a dozen trucks at Florida Baptist’s ‘mega’ feeding site in Texas City Sept. 18.

“Anything that our white hats asked me to do, that’s what I do,” Jones told Florida Baptist Witness.

Setting up a kitchen first in one parking lot and then in another, one would think Jones would get a little frustrated.

“No Mam, when you are doing it for the Lord, it’s not frustrating. When you’re doing it for His work, it’s wonderful to see the smile and the appreciation of the people,” Jones said.

Jones does more than unload trucks, however, like he said, he does whatever he’s asked to do. That can be manning a chain saw, emptying trash, clearing brush or servicing a food line.

The day before, he handed out water for four hours at a walk-up line where over 1,500 meals were served in two settings.

Clearing his throat and sipping some water, Jones, who retired a month ago with tonsillar cancer, said he won’t soon forget one little boy who came to the kitchen that day.

It’s the one image of all of those people “who have gone through so much,” Jones said that he’ll remember.

About 10 or 11, the youngster was riding a bike with “no fenders.” He had short dark hair, was wearing shorts and just sort of “hung back a little bit.

“All he asked for was just one meal,” Jones said. “I remembered I asked and he wanted only one.”

Jim Burt, 69, a member of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola is a veteran of disaster relief work. He said the damage in Texas is “lots worse” than Pensacola after Ivan hit.

Up at 3:30 a.m., he said he can go until about 7 p.m. each night because he believes he’s doing something worthwhile.

“It’s neat we are part of a program that helps people when they are in need,” Burt said.

On the feeding crew, Burt knows how to operate one of the massive tilting skillets used to cook. Some of his favorites? Chili beans and lasagna.

Burt said he’s told people if you go on one of these trips, “you’re hooked once you help others.”

Married for 51 years, Burt said he retired in 1998 from Westinghouse where he was a tool machine mechanic, but he no longer swings a chainsaw like he once did because of his age–and because he’s had some health issues. Still, he said, food service is a good fit.

Burt also said hasn’t let his health prevent him from serving although being diagnosed with cancer awhile back did slow him down. Cancer free for a year now, he said he wasn’t able to help much while he was sick, but now he’s “catching up.”

“The Lord is good,” Burt said.

Financial contributions to Florida Baptists’ disaster relief efforts may be sent to the Florida Baptist Convention, Business Services, P.O. Box 5579, Jacksonville, FL 32247. Checks should be made payable to the Florida Baptist Convention and designated for disaster relief. Donations through credit cards can be made by going to www.flbaptist.org.