Cherokee Valley Baptist Church pastor Franky Ridley and his daughter Sierra Ridley hold up some donations in the church fellowship hall where families impacted by the tornado can stop by and pick up supplies.
Photo by Katie WardCherokee Valley Baptist Church has an in-house disaster relief center open Saturdays and Sundays in June from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. inside the church fellowship hall.
About 25 church volunteers take shifts serving lunch on the weekends and passing out food and supplies to tornado victims.
"They need a cold drink and a meal while they work to repair their homes," said pastor Franky Ridley. "I'm still accepting canned goods, toiletries and Gatorade. We need towels and wash rags. People are working outside and need to wipe their foreheads. But right now the biggest need is gift cards. We need cards from Walmart, Lowe's, Home Depot, gas stations and grocery stores."
He said a lot of Cherokee Valley families are spending a lot on gas to travel back and forth to their properties to continue cleanup efforts. He said some property owners are camping out on their properties in campers and others are living temporarily with family members.
Ridley said donations continue to pour in, stocking the church fellowship hall with trash bags, bandages, peroxide, paper supplies, bug spray, suntan lotion, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, detergent, soft drinks, Ramen noodles, cereal, oatmeal, canned food, baby food and diapers. He said the Catoosa Baptist Association donates food boxes and the American Red Cross donated gloves, rakes, coolers and food to help the people in Cherokee Valley.
"The corner of Cherokee Valley Road and Friendship is where all seven deaths occurred," said Ridley. "We had two families in our church affected by [tornado-related] deaths. We want to put up a granite memorial for the families impacted by the tornado. A local Boy Scout troop is putting up a flag pole that will go with the memorial."
He said his church only has a membership of 40, but that God is doing great things in the small church.
"For three weekends in a row we fed 600 people," he said. "Memorial Day weekend we fed 250 people. Most Sundays we feed 400 to 500 people."
After arriving at the church April 27 after the tornado hit, Ridley said he began distributing peanut butter sandwiches and water to people in need, despite a power outage. He said church members began serving soup off the church's front porch that weekend.
He said the tornado impact brought forth a lot of prayer. He said he was touched that volunteer workers from churches in Florida and middle and south Georgia drove up to volunteer to clean up alongside Cherokee Valley families.
Cherokee Valley Baptist Church, at 1495 Cherokee Valley Road in Ringgold, can be reached at (706) 935-6220.