Tuscaloosa Bound Thursday May 12

Please ask to have this announced at your church Sunday morning and distributed through church emails, facebook pages, tweets, twits, or whatever works.

You can be serve
Servants Unite Alabama Team 1 will leave Thursday May 12 at 3:00pm from Westerville Christian Church 471 College Avenue, Westerville Ohio 43081
We will arrive at University Church of Christ in Tuscaloosa around midnight central time
We will work long days Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There may be an option for some to return Sunday evening. Depending on the situation we will continue to work into Wednesday afternoon, then head home. That will get us back at Westerville Christian after midnight Wednesday night.

We'll know more after we spend a few days down there, but there will likely be an opportunity for other teams to go and help in the coming weeks.

You can help from here
Please ask your churches to be collecting the following items that we can take to distribute or get supplies nearby if available:

• Personal care items - soap, shampoo, razors, deodorant, tooth brush, toothpaste, etc.
• Baby care items - diapers, wipes, bottles, formula, etc.
• Water and gator aid
• Tarps
• Gift Cards - Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart (there aren't krogers or giant eagles in Tuscaloosa ;-)
• Cash - to help with travel expenses, food, and other needs in Tuscaloosa
• Prayers

These things need to get to Westerville Christian. If you have a lot and can't get it there, please let me know and we'll arrange a pickup. If you collect more after Thursday, that is OK. There will probably be additional teams and I'll be sure to get what we have delivered to the area whether or no and it will be needed.

There are a lot of places we could work, but we have a relationship with this church who has housed many of our volunteers overnight and fed us all so well on the road for Katrina relief. It's a small honor to be able to help them in their time of need.

Like after any large disaster there is much uncertainty. These trips are always like that. We will know a lot more this time next week after being on the ground and working for a few days. Everything we learn will appear on the blog here.

You should plan to bring:

• Air mattress
• Sleeping bag
• Pillow
• 6 days worth of grungy clothes (something clean to wear home)
• Sturdy shoes/boots with thick soles. Steel toes may be beneficial
• Basic personal care needs -toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant (this is not a beauty contest)
• Work gloves
• Dust Masks (N95 are best)
• Tools - chain saw, sawzall, pry bars, shovels, sword (Bible :-)

As always, the most important job is to listen to people's stories and help them with their needs, emotional, spiritual, and physical.

Thanks for serving.

Servants Unite!

John McGuire