SOUTHAVEN, Miss — One week after deadly tornadoes ripped through the Mid-South and lower Midwest, the Memphis area is giving its all to help those who lost it all during those storms,'
That includes DeSoto County, MS, where different donation drives share the same goal: helping out as many people in as many places as they can.
At SouthPoint Church in Southaven, organizers are loading up clothing, food, and water to heal to one of the nation's hardest-hit areas: Dawson Springs, Kentucky.
Those at Olive Branch's Warrior Ministry heard about the effort Friday and answered the call.
"We got over here as quick as we could because we wanted to help," Matthew Ince said, who brought dozens of bags of clothing.
That truck will be driven to that Kentucky community Sunday, where its mayor estimated a tornado wiped out about three-quarters of the community last Friday and where the devastation is evident from the air and the ground.
"I know those people really need some help so that's where we are going with it," Organizer Bryan Baker said, with Nickey Transportation.
For Baker, the effort is especially personal. His wife Jessica is a Kentucky native, who grew up not far from Dawson Springs.
"She has a close friend who lost everything, they have a two-story house and it's completely gone," Baker added.
"To characterize the damage, there's really no words you can use," Dawson Springs Revival Center Senior Pastor Adam Berry said.
Pastor Berry will meet Baker when he arrives with the truck Sunday night and fought his emotions on the phone.
"It's going to be like giving someone a piece of gold who has nothing," he added.
In addition to bags of clothes, the truck provides the community of 2,500 with other essentials during a lengthy cleanup effort.
"This is going to take months, possibly even into the year, so these donations coming in is going to help these people into the future," Pastor Berry said.
There's another donation effort in DeSoto County, at the roads management office in Nesbit. There, a trailer is filling up with clothing and other supplies before it heads to Mid-South communities hit hardest by Mother Nature.
For Baker, the donation efforts and the giving to those in need is especially poignant this time of year.
"It's heartbreaking as it is, but I know it's really going to help, especially right here at Christmas, you know, these people, as I said, they've lost everything," Baker said.
The truck at SouthPoint Church at 2010 Stateline Road West in Southaven will be accepting food, clothing, and other donations from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
The trailer in Nesbit at 2373 Gwynn Rd. is accepting donations during business hours Monday.