Skip to content
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
The Alabama Baptist
Search
Close
The Alabama Baptist
Search
Close
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Editorials
  • Classifieds
  • Free Email Newsletter
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Editorials
  • Classifieds
  • Free Email Newsletter

Supplying a need: Texas native leads Alabama’s feeding teams when disaster strikes

  • November 1, 2022
  • Grace Thornton
  • Featured, Latest News
Becky Noland serves with an Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief team.
Photo courtesy of Becky Noland

Supplying a need: Texas native leads Alabama’s feeding teams when disaster strikes

Becky Noland knows what it’s like to be at your wit’s end and have someone show up with food.

“I grew up on the Gulf Coast in Texas and experienced what it’s like to go through hurricanes,” she said.

And after she moved to Alabama, she often would go back to help her parents with cleanup after a storm.

“I know how frustrating it can get and how much it can mean to get some help,” Noland said. “You’re without power, without water, and a truck pulls up and says, ‘Hey, do you want a hot meal?’ Or someone drives up and says, ‘Can I help you with this?’”

That’s what got Noland, a member of Valleydale Church in Birmingham, interested in disaster relief ministry in the first place.

‘I was hooked’

“I’ve always had a tug whenever I hear of any of the disasters,” she said.

So she signed up to be an Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer, and she was in a training session the day the winds of Hurricane Katrina made it to Alabama in 2005.

After training ended, Noland deployed with a team to help those affected. 

“I was hooked,” she said.

She had a flexible job, and she started spending a lot of time working with the state’s mass feeding unit, a mobile kitchen that can crank out up to 20,000 meals a day when it’s working at top capacity.

“I just fell in love with it,” said Noland. “I’m a background worker, and I love helping people who are in a bind. When a disaster hits, the first thing people worry about is how they’re going to feed their family, so food is the first [thing] we need to satisfy … them.”

‘In Jesus’ name’

From there, volunteers can move on to helping people solve problems like cleaning up their house, she said.

“It’s a special thing,” Noland said of the work. “God commands us to take care of people; that whole theme is ‘give them a cup of water in Jesus’ name.’”

For the past several years, Noland has served as the state feeding coordinator for Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief, pulling together teams to prepare meals in the days after a disaster hits.

“It’s a pretty big operation when it gets going,” she said.

In recent weeks, the unit was at work in Arcadia, Florida, preparing meals for the Red Cross to deliver to people affected by Hurricane Ian. Noland said it took a minimum of 35 to 40 volunteers rotating in and out every five days to keep that effort going.

“They work hard,” she said. “We appreciate them so much. There’s a whole army of them working from morning to night.”

In need of help

Noland said Arcadia is just one place of many where the kitchen has been used to help people in need — she’s constantly looking for more help for the mass feeding unit and the crew feeding kitchens that keep the cleanup crews fed so they can work.

She encouraged Alabama Baptists to consider getting trained so they can join teams that get called up to help out after disasters.

“Everybody can stir a pot,” Noland said.

Noland said disasters are never convenient, but she’s passionate about helping those who have no choice but to figure out how to live in the midst of great loss.

“I have to make time for it,” she said. “If that’s my mission, that’s what I’ve got to do. I’m so thankful for other people who feel the same way.”

Mark Wakefield, disaster relief and chaplaincy ministries strategist with the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said Noland has taken this on as her ministry.

“She loves it,” he said. “And it’s such important work. We are really trying to strengthen the ministry of feeding, building the camaraderie of the teams and working together to feed the volunteers who are out doing the cleanup work. Napoleon said an army marches on its stomach, and the same is true of disaster relief work.”

To learn more about training to be an Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer, visit sbdr.org.

Share with others:

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on email
Email

Latest News

  • Bible Studies for Life Sunday School Lesson for February 12
    Bible Studies for Life Sunday School Lesson for February 12
    February 6, 2023/
    0 Comments
  • Explore the Bible Sunday School Lesson for February 12
    Explore the Bible Sunday School Lesson for February 12
    February 6, 2023/
    0 Comments
  • Prattmont Baptist hosting 60th ministry anniversary
    Prattmont Baptist hosting 60th ministry anniversary
    February 5, 2023/
    0 Comments

Sign up for the Highlights

Get all latest content delivered to your email a few times a month.
Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

Related Posts

Want to receive news highlights throughout the week? Sign up here!

Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

About

  • Free Email Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Our Story
  • Awards and Recognitions
  • Affiliations
  • Partner Links
  • Advertise
  • Internships
  • Find Churches
  • Classifieds
  • Archived: Special Resources
  • Special Events
  • Photo Galleries
  • Free Email Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Our Story
  • Awards and Recognitions
  • Affiliations
  • Partner Links
  • Advertise
  • Internships
  • Find Churches
  • Classifieds
  • Archived: Special Resources
  • Special Events
  • Photo Galleries

Explore

  • Latest News
  • Archive
  • Sunday School Lessons
  • Editorials
  • Alabama News
  • Podcasts
  • Obituaries
  • Theology 101
  • Someone You Should Know
  • Rashional Thoughts
  • Persecuted Church
  • Heroes of the Faith
  • Reader Response
  • About Alabama
  • Videos
  • Latest News
  • Archive
  • Sunday School Lessons
  • Editorials
  • Alabama News
  • Podcasts
  • Obituaries
  • Theology 101
  • Someone You Should Know
  • Rashional Thoughts
  • Persecuted Church
  • Heroes of the Faith
  • Reader Response
  • About Alabama
  • Videos

Submissions

  • Story Ideas
  • Staff Change or News Item
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Reader Submissions
  • What Are You Reading?
  • Obituary
  • Correction / Clarification
  • Submission Policy
  • Story Ideas
  • Staff Change or News Item
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Reader Submissions
  • What Are You Reading?
  • Obituary
  • Correction / Clarification
  • Submission Policy

Subscribe

  • Start a new subscription
  • Renew your subscription
  • Start a new gift subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Subscribe to the TAB News app
  • Update your subscriber list
  • Subscribe to Highlights
  • Register for online access
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage Account | Customer Service
  • Start a new subscription
  • Renew your subscription
  • Start a new gift subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Subscribe to the TAB News app
  • Update your subscriber list
  • Subscribe to Highlights
  • Register for online access
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage Account | Customer Service
The Alabama Baptist
Address:
3310 Independence Dr.
Birmingham, AL 35209
Copyright © 2023 The Alabama Baptist, Inc.
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ
Email:
news@thealabamabaptist.org

About

  • Free Email Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Our Story
  • Awards and Recognitions
  • Affiliations
  • Partner Links
  • Advertise
  • Internships
  • Find Churches
  • Classifieds
  • Archived: Special Resources
  • Special Events
  • Photo Galleries
  • Free Email Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Our Story
  • Awards and Recognitions
  • Affiliations
  • Partner Links
  • Advertise
  • Internships
  • Find Churches
  • Classifieds
  • Archived: Special Resources
  • Special Events
  • Photo Galleries

Explore

  • Latest News
  • Archive
  • Sunday School Lessons
  • Editorials
  • Alabama News
  • Podcasts
  • Obituaries
  • Theology 101
  • Someone You Should Know
  • Rashional Thoughts
  • Persecuted Church
  • Heroes of the Faith
  • Reader Response
  • About Alabama
  • Videos
  • Latest News
  • Archive
  • Sunday School Lessons
  • Editorials
  • Alabama News
  • Podcasts
  • Obituaries
  • Theology 101
  • Someone You Should Know
  • Rashional Thoughts
  • Persecuted Church
  • Heroes of the Faith
  • Reader Response
  • About Alabama
  • Videos

Submissions

  • Story Ideas
  • Staff Change or News Item
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Reader Submissions
  • What Are You Reading?
  • Obituary
  • Correction / Clarification
  • Submission Policy
  • Story Ideas
  • Staff Change or News Item
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Reader Submissions
  • What Are You Reading?
  • Obituary
  • Correction / Clarification
  • Submission Policy

Subscribe

  • Start a new subscription
  • Renew your subscription
  • Start a new gift subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Subscribe to the TAB News app
  • Update your subscriber list
  • Subscribe to Highlights
  • Register for online access
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage Account | Customer Service
  • Start a new subscription
  • Renew your subscription
  • Start a new gift subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Subscribe to the TAB News app
  • Update your subscriber list
  • Subscribe to Highlights
  • Register for online access
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage Account | Customer Service

Log In

Lost your password?

Log Out?

Lost your password?

Log in

Become a part of our community!
Forgot your password? Get help

Reset password

Recover your password
A password reset link will be e-mailed to you.
Back to
Login
×
Close Panel