First Baptist Church coat donation
Photo by Samantha Lyles
A shipment of warm coats and blankets arrived in fire-ravaged Gatlinburg, Tennessee over the weekend, courtesy of several generous Darlington families. Donation organizer Brenda Jenkins said she and her family regularly vacation in Tennessee and were moved by the plight of hundreds of residents who lost their homes in recent devastating forest fires.
“Whenever we heard about the fire and how so many people had lost everything, it was put upon my heart to do something,” said Jenkins.
With help from co-workers and friends, she reached out through the First Baptist Church community and asked for donations of coats, blankets, shoes, bottled water, and other necessities to help those displaced families. Donations also came in from Darlington Presbyterian Church, Freedom Baptist Church, and Liberty Chapel UMC of Florence. Volunteers gathered at First Baptist Church of Darlington on Friday and dropped off dozens of bags and boxes loaded with donation items, which were then driven up to Gatlinburg on Saturday.
Photo Samantha Lyles
Pictured here at the donation drop-off are (left to right) Jeff Burr, Brenda Jenkins, Kelly Bell, Dana Hancock, Dot Stone, Hope Walters, Crystal Abbott, Michael, Jacey Stone, Jim Stone, Dennis Jenkins, Ken Godbold, and Stone Godbold
