‘They’re good people’: Baptists tackle Chotard
Published 12:30 am Sunday, July 3, 2011
For 68-year-old Mickey Laney, cleaning out her flooded Lake Chotard home seemed like an impossible task — until volunteers with Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief stepped in to help.
“It’s just great,” Laney said Saturday as members of First Baptist Church of Clinton and Bowmar and First Baptist churches of Vicksburg gathered at Laney’s Landing. “They’re good people.”
“We’re mudding out the house,” said David Baldwin, coordinator of the project and a member of First Baptist of Vicksburg. “If we weren’t here helping her, it would have taken her months to do this.”
Baldwin and 10 other volunteers spent Saturday tearing out insulation and Sheetrock from the home, which also houses Laney’s Landing Boat Ramp, Laney’s business.
Baldwin said he was introduced to Laney through The Salvation Army when he went to seek out someone to help.
“I happened to walk up and the lady pointed me right to Mickey,” Baldwin said.
Laney has lived in the home since 1991.
“It’s flooded about six times,” she said. “But this flood is the worst I’ve ever seen.”
The Mississippi River at Vicksburg on May 1 cruised past flood stage, which is 43 feet, and crested at 57.1 feet on May 19. The water dipped below flood stage on June 16.
Water stood in Laney’s two-story home for more than 30 days, with the first floor submersed and the second taking on six feet of water. Laney moved as much as she could upstairs before the flood, she said, but lost the majority of her possessions.
Baldwin said his group hoped to knock out the entire first floor in one day, but they are willing to come back. The group is also looking to help other flood victims.
“Disaster relief allows us to go all over the place helping other people,” Baldwin said, “but this is a time when we get a chance to help our own people.”
The Southern Baptist Convention, established in 1845, has more than 16 million members who worship in more than 42,000 churches in the United States. It has state affiliates, including the Mississippi Baptist Convention.