In 2005, First Baptist Church, Robertsdale, began a ministry to care for people impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
The Baldwin Baptist Association church shipped goods to affected people and sheltered individuals who had fled to Alabama to get away from the hurricane. This was a commitment that lasted about nine months, Senior Pastor Jeff Copeland said.
The ministry was called Project Kare (Katrina Aftermath Response Effort).
But when that need subsided, the church decided to continue the ministry under the name Project Care (Catastrophic Aftermath Response Effort). Mostly the church’s team of relief volunteers addresses needs in its area of the state, assisting after fires, natural disasters and similar events. However, the April 27 tornadoes gave the volunteers the opportunity to help people elsewhere in Alabama, Associate Pastor Richard Hebert said.
About 30 people transported water, personal items and a cooking trailer and ministered through Ider Baptist Church in Sand Mountain Baptist Association soon after the tornadoes.
Volunteers also assisted in Tallapoosa and Tuscaloosa counties, Copeland added.
Project Care, though, is not confined to meeting immediate needs after a disaster.
It has grown into a daily ministry, Copeland said.
The ministry has several facets: a thrift store that generates funds for purchasing food to give to people in need and a center that offers counseling, tutoring and job placement assistance, among other things. “In fact, we see 300 to 400 a month for food, clothing, shelter, utilities,” Copeland said. Baldwin County residents in need, travelers and homeless people are among those who are helped through Project Care, he said.
First, Robertsdale, houses the ministry in its former church building. The church’s new building is about a mile away, Hebert said.
“The Lord just put that on us, put it before us,” Copeland said about the beginnings of the ministry. “We’ve kind of been following ever since.”
As a result, First, Robertsdale, has seen the ministry grow beyond what was first anticipated, he said. “It has changed us completely as a church,” Copeland said of the ministry. “People (are) doing the church and being the church instead of just talking about the church.”
(TAB)
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