The use of this blast email service now enables us to reach all 317 current members of our communications distribution roster at one time.  Please feel free to forward it on to anyone you choose.   Workday Report - Wednesday, May 21, 2014 Today's CFC team consisted of Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams, Henry Averyt and Tim Smith.  They were back in the Cruce Road / Cruce Drive neighborhood again today.  On Cruce Road they initially cut standing 20' tall pine stumps, the tops of which had been snapped off by the tornado.  Buddy reports that some of them (maybe most?) were actually 28”-30” in diameter which meant double cuts were required to bring them down even using our big Stihl chainsaw with the 28” bar.  On Cruce Drive they moved debris piles toward the curbside where the knuckle-boom grapple trucks will be able to pick them up. Our next planned work day will be next Tuesday, but more information will be sent concerning our destination and plans after we receive updates from the communities we're serving on Monday.

Today was a very busy day. We had 6 CFC volunteers; Tim, Henry, Bob, Chris, Ray, Buddy and Joel Stevenson our steady volunteer walk up. It was a hot day but we were able to perform all task that we were assigned. Thanks to the City of Adamsville public works employees and City of Hoover employees Jason and Billy for joining in to make a big difference in the 3 propertys on Morrow road.

We will take a well deserved day off tomorrow thanks again for all volunteers who have been assisting the people of Kemberly and Adamsville.

Buddy

We are on for tomorrow. We will meet in the parking lot of the Senior Center at 419 Spring Street Adamsville, AL. 35005 at 8:30 – 9:00.

I hope to see you there.

Boyd and myself worked today using our chainsaws to clear 3 yards today. It was hot so bring plenty of water and also bring your lunch tomorrow.

Buddy

I will be going to Adamsville tomorrow morning and check in with the city to see what work is out there for us. Than being said I would like to field a team for Tuesday and Wednesday if the weather is favorable.

So far for Tuesday we have Boyd, Chris, Tim, and myself. Please consider working with us on Tuesday and or Wednesday. We will meet at 8:30 at the center.

Please let me know if you can make it and share the invitation with other members of our team. I will confirm via email tomorrow afternoon if Tuesday is a go.

Thank you for your service.

Buddy

Week of May 11 - 17 Work Request

If anyone would like to work please send me an email (bwill48@att.net) or call 205-213-4202 and if we can agree on a day or days that we can field a team I will try and set up a work day. We still have work to do in Adamsville, a large pine tree over a trailer just out of the city in Adamsville, and a huge tree in Bessemer laying across 3 front yards that could be possible targets.

Buddy

Update on CFC Team Member John Boettner

Thanks for the kind words Bob. I am now home after 3 days in the hospital feeling better and recovering. Evidently my body did not respond well to a routine procedure and sent my heart into serious distress. I have now recovered and feel well but the cause is still not known. I hope to join the cutters before all the work is done, but i doubt it will be this week. Please let the group know I am much better.

Thanks, John

Dear Cutters for Christ team members, Riverchase UMC DRM team members, Asbury UMC DRM team members and Friends of the Ministries,

Our day of service in Adamsville today began at 8:30 AM at the Adamsville Community Center where we signed in, were given registration arm bands to wear and identify us, and were treated to sausage biscuits and coffee to start of way.  We were back again on Morrow Lane by 9 AM where our first work assignment was punctuated with rainfall just 30 minutes into our work day.  The rain, combined with the exhaustion of working every day for two weeks in Kimberly and Adamsville, was enough for the team to call for an early end to the work day at 12:30 PM.  Lunch consisting of barbecue chicken and green beans was served at the Adamsville Community Center and appreciation was again shared by the others there with the CFC team.

The team today consisted of (left to right with most everyone's backsides to you!) Henry Averyt, walk-up volunteer Joel Stevenson, A.J. Benintnede, Boyd Martin, Chris Williams, Tim Smith and Buddy Williams.  Abel was there in full form and although you can’t make him out inside the protective cage, Bob Suellentrop was in his pilot’s chair.  This writer was there for the first 90 minutes, too, although a significant ankle sprain I suffered two days ago has frustratingly taken me out of the chainsaw operation business for a week or two and has sidelined me to just my team photography and workday reporting roles.

Today’s team:

Back on Morrow Lane, the team first worked at the home of Paul Roberts and removed two trees that were toppled on his property.  (Those are his trees in the team photo above.)  He was another homeowner who was spared the destruction of his home by the tree falling in the right direction - away from his house!

After completing the work at Paul’s house, the team removed a large oak tree at the corner of Morrow Lane and Cruce Road before ending their efforts for the week.  We'll take a well deserved weekend off and rest up for whatever next week brings.  

Being tired, there was not a lot of interest being expressed today by team members for getting right back into action again next week.  This is tough work!  And more bad weather may be coming.  And the Asbury UMC skid steer, Abel, will not be available to us next week.  And…and…and.  But there is certainly plenty of work to do.  So maybe there will be just a day or two of chainsaw cutting next week as members recharge and the weather permits.  Without Abel, pickers, haulers and draggers will certainly also be needed.  As I’ll be out of town most every day next week, if you have an interest in any team activities next week please communicate directly with deployment/team leader Buddy Williams at bwill48@att.net and let him know what days you might be available for service.

I encourage you also to check the CFC blog site every day at http://cuttersforchrist.blogspot.com for any up-to-the-minute communications from Buddy - he doesn’t have all 300 of your email addresses so he won’t be sending emails to you, but he asks that you check the blog site daily for any updates from him which he will post there when he has things to share with you during the week.

Let’s keep all the neighbors impacted by these local tornadoes in our prayers.

In His Service,

Bob

Dear Cutters for Christ, Asbury UMC, and RUMC Disaster Response Ministry Members and Friends of the Ministry,

Buddy Williams, one of our Cutters for Christ coalition disaster response ministry coordinators, received a call at 6:30 AM this past Tuesday morning.  He was asked if CFC could field a team and report to Kimberly, Alabama, which had been hit by an EF-1 tornado just 8-1/2 hours earlier, as soon as possible to assist the first responders and homeowners there.  The Kimberly Church of God had been destroyed and the town’s fire station had been uprooted from its foundation and redeposited in Stouts Road.  Property owners in the path of the tornado lost roofs, had uprooted trees come crashing through their homes, and trees anywhere near the path of the tornado were snapped off and dropped pick-up-sticks style in yards and across roadways.

We were able to pull together a team of 5 CFC members that morning who could break from their prior commitments and move quickly to assist the fire, police and utility companies there in beginning to clear away debris. They were in Kimberly, ready to work, by 9 AM.  6 CFC members reported for work in Kimberly on Wednesday, 7 on Thursday and 8 on Friday.  Yesterday, one CFC team member, Henry Averyt, even drove to the North Alabama Conference United Methodist Church Disaster Response Warehouse in Decatur, Alabama to retrieve needed supplies for distribution to the residents of Kimberly.

After 4 consecutive days of work in Kimberly our CFC teams and the others assisting this community immediately after the tragedy had cleared so much debris that the authorities are considering asking us not even to return again until the mounding debris piles that have been formed at the curbsides all around town have been picked up and cleared.  That assessment will be officially made sometime on Monday. 

Here are just a few images from Kimberly and the work our CFC teams have helped perform there this week:

We'll be moving more into the relief phase of our disaster response ministry work beginning next week, whether that be in Kimberly or in some other community.  Moving from the first responder phase into the disaster relief phase, our teams will be open for others interested in volunteering to help homeowners begin to rebuild their lives.  Please check your calendars and consider joining a team next week.  As soon as we learn where our services may most be needed, we'll alert you and let you know where and when we'll be deploying.  Our plans are to work Tuesday through Friday next week, so please check your email on Monday evening to see where we'll be.  We sincerely hope that your schedule will allow you to join in this phase of disaster response.

Come serve our neighbors who may be suffering as victims of this most recent tornado disaster.  Help give them the strength to become survivors of this severe weather event by sharing the joy of Christ with them!

In His Service,
Bob T.

RUMC Disaster Response Ministry Coordinator

______________________________________________________________________
Robert P. (Bob) Thompson
250 Trace Ridge Road
Hoover, Alabama 35244-3924
Cellphone: 205.276.3030