Following the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene, which caused severe flooding in Greeneville, Tennessee, the Owensboro community stepped up to help in the relief effort. The initiative, led by First Baptist Church, resulted in the rapid purchase and delivery of 17 pallets of water — approximately 33,000 bottles — to Greeneville, where the town’s water supply had been cut off due to the storm.
Lee Brown, pastor of Arrowhead Church in Greeneville and a former youth pastor at First Baptist Owensboro, reached out to former colleagues and congregations when he learned that his community would soon be without water. Bridges had collapsed, and the local water system was compromised.
“I was on staff for First Baptist Owensboro for about 3 years. I knew that I had friends and there were church members there that still knew and loved our family. I reached out to one of my good friends, Kent Moore, and just said, ‘Hey, man, we are going to be without water in about 24 hours. … I got a phone call from him and he said that they had 17 pallets of water coming our way.
The plea for help resulted in an overwhelming response from the Owensboro congregation, who quickly raised enough money to buy the much-needed water.
Brad Winter, Director of Community Engagement & Activities at First Baptist Owensboro, explained how quickly the relief effort came together.
“Lee reached out to Kent Moore, who works at Nutrien Ag Solutions in Owensboro and is also a deacon at First Baptist,” Winter said. “Lee asked if we could help send water to Greeneville because they had a couple of bridges collapse. We mentioned the need during our Sunday service, and by Monday morning, we had enough donations to buy 17 pallets of water.”
Moore and a group of volunteers from Nutrien Ag Solutions loaded the pallets onto trailers, and the water was delivered to Greeneville by Tuesday evening.
“We thought it would take a long time to pass it out, but it was gone by 10 o’clock the next morning,” Brown said. “It makes a great impact. When churches or other organizations send big donations like that, it’s a huge help, especially when you have people who can’t get out of their houses. It’s just a huge, life-saving help.”
The town of Greeneville continues to recover from the flooding, with temporary water pumps in place and cleanup efforts beginning. Brown said the community is collecting information on families in need of assistance with tree removal and property cleanup.
“We’ve lost bridges in our town, so a lot of people have had to drive 45 minutes to get into town, where it would have taken them 15 minutes before the bridges collapsed. Luckily, the dam that we have on the Nolichucky River held. But it’ll be a long time before we recover, especially those close to the river and those on the other side of the mountain,” Brown said.
Winter emphasized that First Baptist Owensboro’s aid will not stop at just the immediate response.
“We’ve already talked about calling Lee in January and saying, ‘It’s been 3 months since the original event happened. How can we still help you be a blessing to your community?’” Winter said. “It’s been three months since the original event happened. How can we still help you be a blessing to your community?”
For those interested in assisting Greeneville’s recovery efforts, Brown suggested reach out to the church at arrowhead.church, the local Red Cross at 423-765-4222, or Samaritan’s Purse at 828-262-1980.”
