Retiree cancels vacation to serve those affected by Hurricane Ida

The week of Sept. 12, Cheryl Davis was all set to go on a vacation with a friend. 

Then Hurricane Ida hit Aug. 29, and the call went out that volunteers were needed to serve in a variety of ways including feeding ministry — the area where Davis just received training. 

“I thought to myself, ‘Why did I train if I’m not going to serve?’”

So she canceled her trip and headed down to Houma, Louisiana, south of New Orleans, to wake up at 3 a.m. every day and help produce thousands of meals for the community. 

“I can’t replace everything they lost, but I can feed them a hot meal today,” said Davis, a member of Hunter Street Baptist Church in Hoover. “Why would you not want to be a part of that?”

Davis considers her retirement an opportunity to serve people with her more flexible schedule. She heard about a Disaster Relief training session at The Baptist Church at McAdory in McCalla and decided to check it out since she didn’t know much about it. 

“The woman who taught the class was just so passionate,” she said, and it made her want to invest in this ministry.

“[Disaster Relief] is a very good opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ like God has commanded us to be,” she said.