As January snowflakes mark the six-month anniversary of the devastating 2022 floods in Eastern Kentucky, Christian Appalachian Project’s (CAP) Operation Sharing program continues to work with its partner network of more than 1,300 school, churches, nonprofits, and community-based agencies to distribute donated materials to people who need it most during ongoing recovery efforts.
Local teacher Alma Eversole’s school district was an Operation Sharing partner long before the disaster. When flood waters left Knott County devastated, she stepped up to help organize and distribute additional truckloads of essential items and household goods to her community. Recently Eversole distributed a load of more than 50 rolls of carpet donated to CAP by Rupp Arena, the home court of the University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball team in Lexington.
“People are continuing work repairing their homes, some are starting to move out of their FEMA trailers and back into their homes,” said Eversole, who is a flood victim herself still working to make home repairs. “People in the community are in need of furniture, flooring, small and large appliances, and other household goods. We’ve been able to furnish homes a little bit at a time from these donations from Operation Sharing. The carpet will help ease the burden on families who are trying to rebuild their homes from scratch, especially on a fixed income.”
While the flood impacted thousands of homes in the region, it also hurt the morale and hope in Eastern Kentucky communities. Eversole and a group of volunteers who help her distribute the donated materials are dedicated to meeting the needs of their neighbors through the partnership with Operation Sharing.
“We will keep doing this until we don’t see a need,” she said. “There is a lot that is needed here, but we are taking it one day at a time. It has been a blessing for us to be able to do this for our community and to have this partnership with Operation Sharing.”
Whether a disaster strikes or there is a need in the community, CAP’s programs are in it for the long haul to walk beside our participants and help them through what could be the most challenging moments of their lives.
“When the disaster hit, Operation Sharing, with the help of our donors and partners, stepped up to deliver essential items to communities in need,” said Aaron Thoms, manager of the Paintsville Operation Sharing program. “We continue to listen to our partners to meet the changing needs of our participants as recovery efforts continue. We hope that what we are able to do helps make a small difference in the lives of these families.”
