RAINELLE -- "Here's the church and here's the steeple," the children's chant begins, fingers intertwined. "Open it up and here's the people."
The Derecho hurricane strength storm grabbed First Baptist Church in Rainelle's steeple and threw it casually into the street. First Baptist opened up, though, and the people set to work for the next two weeks. When the Rainelle Medical Clinic shelter became overwhelmed with feeding those in need First Baptist was asked to take over. Beginning with dinner on Thursday, July 5th First Baptist served three meals a day and gave out 1500 meals during the six days as a Red Cross feeding station.
"The flood of 2003 showed us a need for a shelter in Rainelle," Pastor Bob Scharnhorst said. "We added a Christian Life Center with a gym capacity to house up to 110 people on cots with showers, and to feed about 350 at one sitting."
"First Baptist Church was actually open for Vacation Bible School when the storm hit," Mayor Andrea Pendleton said. "They've been there serving food and shelter ever since."
People came from all over western Greenbrier and eastern Fayette counties, Pastor Bob reported. An informal survey showed First Baptist feeding people from Danese, Leslie, Hilton Village, Charmco, Quinwood, and other nearby communities, as well as people living in Rainelle and Lilly Park.
And the church's people? About forty First Baptist congregants teamed up along with volunteers from Highland First Church of God, Hilton Village Baptist, Bellwood Baptist, Sewell Valley Baptist and Energy Express to serve meals, ten to twelve per shift. "This was a definite community of Volunteers and they have been a blessing, serving all those hungry people," Pastor Bob reported.
Between meals, church folks were looking for food to serve the hungry. Local stores, especially Go Mart and Kroger's, and organizations stepped up as soon as the wind died down. After Governor Earl Ray Tomblin's helicopter touched down and he toured the town, the West Virginia National Guard began bringing ice, water, canned goods, and infant supplies.
Rainelle's response to the crisis included, as Rainelle Fire Chief Shawn Wolford reported, everybody in need from "Hico to Clintonville."
Mayor Andrea Pendleton turned a regular Town Council meeting into a community forum about the storm. The story was told of a family with seven children who came to town searching for food. The children were so hungry they were crying. Parents said they had no food for two days. The volunteers telling the story were teary eyed about how good it felt to be feeding hungry neighbors.
Five days after the storm hit, North Carolina Baptist Men and Women Disaster Relief Ministry arrived at First Baptist Church in Fairlea. They reported using 561 volunteer days to cook 40,000 meals before closing shop on July 13. The American Red Cross ferried hot meals from that site in Fairlea to First Baptist in Rainelle.
"First Baptist in Rainelle supplied breakfast and the Red Cross transported lunch and dinner from the North Carolina Baptist operation," Pastor Bob said. "We supplemented the food from Fairlea with vegetables and salads donated to us by Jim Justice from The Greenbrier Farm."
Justice brought The Greenbrier staff and prepared to serve 4,000 hamburgers and 6,000 hot dogs to a picnic at Town Hall's Heritage Park. He donated additional food as well as the unused picnic supplies to First Baptist where volunteers repackaged in family sized portions.
The number of people coming for hot meals decreased as electricity was restored in the area. Now, Pastor Bob said, First Baptist's mission is transitioning from serving hot meals back to its ongoing role as the area's food pantry.
"Actually, First Baptist may have influenced the storm," Pastor Bob joked at a community meeting, adding levity to a grim experience. "Our Pre-Kindergarten Vacation Bible School children sang about the walls of Jericho falling down, and an hour later the storm hit."
Town Recorder Danny Milam brought a crew member along with First Baptist Rainelle volunteers to cover the hole in the First Baptist Church in Rainelle's roof. The church has contracted with Danny Milam's construction company to replace the steeple. And yet the people keep coming in search of food.
The storm hit on the last Friday of the month, the day before the food pantry regularly provides food for 100 families. Many of the frequent patrons receive food stamps which simply do not stretch for the whole month. Others work at hourly jobs where the income varies from week to week.
"In addition to the people we serve on the fourth Saturday of the month, more of our neighbors were out of work for that week or two weeks or had no electricity to prepare food," Pastor Bob said. In order to help those without food stamps who need assistance during the recovery First Baptist Rainelle food Pantry has been giving out enough food for families for a week.
Regular food pantry distributions are made on the fourth Saturday of the month, from 9:30 – 11:30 in the morning, according to Frank Groves. Groves, Director of First Baptist Church in Rainelle's food pantry, said they chose the fourth Saturday because in "normal" times, they mostly see families whose food stamps ran out.
"We try to give about a week's amount of food to get them through the end of the month," Groves said.
The food pantry tries to give "pretty solid meals" that are easy to serve, such as spaghetti and sauce, canned fruits and canned vegetables with some frozen meat and baked goods.
The pantry usually serves between 100 and 125 persons a month, with more in the winter months and a slight drop off in the summer.
The food pantry also serves hardship cases at any time. Persons needing food may come by the church or telephone (304) 438-6311. "If you get the answering machine, please leave your name and how we can contact you," Groves said.
"We are tapped out right now," Pastor Bob reported. He said that the need for food is greater than ever and asked for help in restocking the food pantry.
Groves said that cash is always welcome as it allows the food pantry to shop for food on sale. Donations of nonperishable food are also welcomed. Preferred items are canned fruits and vegetables, Mac-N-Cheese or spaghetti.
Brad Legg of Studio 304 is also conducting a food drive on behalf of First Baptist Church. Legg conducts food drives around the holidays. His patrons usually respond generously.
Donations are urgently needed. Food and checks may be sent to First Baptist Church, Seventh Street, Rainelle WV 25962 Phone: 304-438-6311 or to Brad Legg of Studio 304, 306 Second Street, Rainelle WV 25962.
