Fayette Assoc. volunteers minister door to door

Fayette Assoc. volunteers minister door to door

After the late April 2011 tornadoes struck the communities of Boley (also called Boley Springs) and Flatwoods in Fayette County, a brigade of pastors and other volunteers went door to door to check on the people and address needs.

“That community was a mess,” Phillip Bonner, pastor of Shady Grove Baptist Church, Bankston, in Fayette Baptist Association, said of Boley and Flatwoods.

“I grew up in that community,” Bonner said. “I was very concerned about them. I just did what needed to be done.”

Bonner — along with the pastors of Grace Baptist Church, Fayette, and Berry Baptist Church, Berry, as well as pastors’ wives, volunteers and people from other denominations — visited with individuals and found out their needs.

Among the things the people needed were food, water, ice, hygiene items and gas for generators, Bonner said.

“Everything mostly was brought to Boley Volunteer Fire Department,” Bonner said of the necessary items.

From there, volunteers took to each household what the individuals needed, he said.

“We worked for days trying to get everybody settled,” said Bonner, who took time off from his job at Taylor Sudden Service Inc. in Bessemer.  

(TAB)