ST. LOUIS – About 15 years ago when she was in her mid-60s, Glenda Townsend began serving with Missouri Disaster Relief with her husband Ben. Recently, she deployed to east central Missouri to maintain the ministry’s laundry and shower trailer for crews working in the St. Louis area following tornados there in mid-March.
She says the relief organization is one where older adults can make an effective contribution even if they don’t want to be part of the physically demanding chainsaw and heavy machinery crews.
“I want to encourage folks who are older to participate however they are able.There are less strenuous things in each job situation. There are things you can do.”
Maintaining showers for her meant disinfecting stall floors after each use, and ensuring fresh towels were on hand for the next user. At other work sites and Baptist conventions, she’s helped with childcare.
Townsend, a member of First Baptist Church, Desloge, just north of Farmington, has lost track of her DR deployments. DR pins on her yellow hat tell part of her story.
“I’ve got several pins from doing childcare for the national conventions. I’ve been to Alabama and Texas. I’ve been to Texas twice. I’ve been to Louisiana twice and I’ve been to several Missouri state conventions for childcare and the shower unit.”
Disaster Relief often provides childcare services at state and national Southern Baptist Conventions so young attendees can participate in business and general meetings. She says that’s something older workers can do well.
“Childcare needs workers. Somebody comes in and they’re handed a baby. They can rock a baby.”
She says she gravitated to childcare and the shower/laundry unit when she first went for DR training.
“I didn’t take feeding training first because I was thinking all the women will want to do feeding because that’s something they’re familiar with. I took shower/ laundry and childcare because I thought that those would be less likely to have a lot of people.
Disaster Relief volunteers stress the importance of being flexible.
When the recent call for volunteers came, Townsend replied, “ I want to do laundry. But, I get here and there’s nobody doing showers, so last night my husband came up to help me and we did showers.”
Ben typically works in DR communications, operations, and logistics management.
She says the shower/laundry support is an appreciated ministry. ”When (the men) come and they take their showers, they feel so much better.“
“My ministry is not to the storm victims. My ministry is to the (DR) workers.”
Canaan Baptist in Imperial hosted the St. Louis area DR effort. During Townsend’s recent deployment, there were 50-60 volunteers from throughout Missouri, plus crews from Georgia, Kentucky, and Illinois.
When work crews left for their job sites each morning and the showers were unused, Townsend laundered volunteers’ clothing. Between loads of laundry, she sat in the warm weather, or crocheted in her car.
She notes that ministry happens not only to a community’s residents, but also between DR volunteers.
“I think that being with God’s people is awesome–especially with women. We have a chance to talk and share problems if we’ve been through similar things. We can encourage each other.”
At her home church, she’s active in maintaining the church’s family ministry center, a recreation facility used by various groups.
But she says DR will remain part of her ministry. “I’m planning on continuing.”