"We were originally contacted by the Rev. Dr. Bayard S. Taylor Jr., Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church here in Chester," explains Christine Howze, community general manager. "Reverend Taylor put us in touch with Pastor Lewis Ragins of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in Gulfport." Community worked with Pastor Ragins to arrange the shipment, valued at well over $100,000, to the Gulfport area.
"We were a bit concerned at first, because our facility had sustained quite a bit of damage, and we really had nowhere to store the speakers," Pastor Ragins reported. "But the folks at Community not only paid for the shipment, they arranged for the trailer to be left with us for over a week while we distributed the speakers."
"It's important to remember that the road to recovery from a disaster of this magnitude is a journey of one step at a time," Howze observes. "After the first steps of providing food, shelter and other basic necessities have been addressed, people in the area need help in rebuilding their communities, their churches and their schools. We hope our speakers will help the people who have suffered so much loss, to communicate messages of encouragement and better times ahead."
(Chris Henry)
