MINDEN, Iowa – Over the years, the Mass Feeding Unit, which has been frequently deployed by Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief, has provided literally thousands of hot meals to disaster victims throughout the country. In fact, it’s been used to feed as many as 10,000 people per day following some of America’s worst hurricanes.
Unfortunately, it also has its limitations when it comes to agility and response time. Because it’s housed in a semi-trailer, it requires a large area for setup, as well as a large team of volunteers to fix and serve meals … all of which takes time to coordinate. Plus, in many cases, there’s no need for that much capacity. That’s why MODR purchased a Quick Response Feeding Unit, or QRU, over the winter … largely through an end-of-the-year giving campaign. Unlike the much larger Mass Feeding Unit, the QRU is a fully stocked and fully equipped mobile kitchen that can be quickly positioned on site to provide meals for up to 500 people; can be transported with a heavy-duty pickup and can be manned by as few as two to four people.
“The new QRU has already proven its value several times,” says Eddie Barnhill, MODR Mass Care Coordinator. “It was first used to provide meals for attendees and instructors at the Disaster Relief training in Bethany, Mo. Naturally, all those attending the training session on mass feeding also got experience with the QRU while preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner for 120 to 150 people.”
Barnhill says the QRU was next used in Minden, Iowa, to provide meals following a small tornado in that community. He added that since Iowa is in the process of rebuilding a Baptist Disaster Relief organization, MODR has taken the western part of the state under its wing, while Illinois has adopted the eastern part of the state.
“As a result, Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief was one of the first to respond when a large tornado hit Greenfield, Iowa, on May 21, damaging approximately one third of the residential area in town,” said Gaylon Moss, MODR director. “In response, MODR volunteers handed out tarps, as well as boxes and tubs for collecting personal items and valuables from damaged or destroyed homes. We also had a number of chaplains available and set up the QRU at the Catholic church, which served as a humanitarian base, where we handed out between 200 and 300 meals each day to storm victims and volunteers who were helping with the cleanup.”
The meals are far from being just hamburgers and hot dogs, too. Barnhill says meals have included fajita wraps … the hands-down favorite in Greenfield … quesadillas, bratwursts, Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, etc.
“Our goal is to keep enough food on hand in the QRU freezers to fix around 500 to 600 meals,” he added. “Naturally, we have to stop somewhere en-route to a disaster and get the fresh items, but when we average about 200 meals per day, that means we can be on site quickly and go two or three days before we need to restock the unit.”
As most people are aware, however, the Greenfield tornado was far from being the only storm this spring. MODR crews hadn’t even finished in Iowa before a tornado hit the area around Sikeston, Mo., some 520 miles away.
“We had thought we would just take the unit back to Jefferson City when we finished with Greenfield,” Barnhill related. “But the first call we got about Sikeston was that the power was out, so we decided to go ahead and take it on down there, just in case it was needed.”
As it turned out, the First Baptist Church in Sikeston had electricity and enough kitchen capacity to fix meals for all the volunteers, as well as meals for the Red Cross and Salvation Army on a few occasions. Yet, the QRU still proved invaluable while it was on site.
“The Missouri Baptist Collegiate intern team was scheduled to received mass feeding training, but then they were deployed to Sikeston to help with the recovery efforts,” Barnhill explained. “So, we just went ahead and had training with the Quick Response Feeding Unit while it was on-site. Consequently, the collegiate interns used the QRU, with some assistance from the church kitchen, to fix around 150 meals for the MODR teams and Red Cross on one of the days they were there. The way it turned out, it was a real experience … not just pretend or practice.
“There was a lot of work to be done in Sikeston, as well as the area around Dexter, Mo.,” Barnhill added, noting that there was a great demand for chainsaw teams, as well as chaplains, assessors and mass feeding. “So, we’ve been grateful for all the assistance we’ve been able to get in all areas.”
Barnhill says it’s hard to tell when the next use of the QRU will occur, but it’s already scheduled to provide meals for the Army during a “Dense Urban Response” training in St. Louis next month.
“One of the biggest benefits of the QRU is that we can take it anywhere we can take a pickup and trailer,” he added. “That means it can be used in response to smaller-scale disasters, as well as assisting public service organizations like firefighters in a remote area, police forces responding to a manhunt, etc. Even if we’re deployed to an area with a Baptist church, you never know what you’re going to get with a church kitchen.
“One recent census shows that there are nearly 700 towns in Missouri alone with a population between 50 and 500 people,” he added. “Thanks to the purchase of a Quick Response Feeding Unit, MODR can provide meals for up to 500 people just as well as we can feed 5,000 in a major city. So, we’re forever grateful to all those who helped support the purchase of this valuable unit.”
To learn more about Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief, go to https://www.facebook.com/MOBaptistsDR or mobaptist.org/dr.