The mission trip to Moore, Okla., was a rewarding and humbling experience for the seven area volunteers from both St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church and the New Martinsville United Methodist Church who made the 21-hour trip to deliver supplies and help out in a town still suffering the devastating effects of tornadoes on May 20.

In addition to all of the supplies collected from area churches, the group was able to provide the following items: six chain-saws, five dollies, three lawn mowers, four weed-eaters, five sets of ratchets and wrenches, two extension ladders, gas cans, plus a monetary donation.

The group would like to thank the following: New Martinsville Lions Club, New Martinsville Rotary, Friendship Circle of the United Methodist Church, Dave Koon, Jeremy Blain, Stone Energy, Bridgeport Equipment and Tool, Boo Litman, and Budget Finance.

There are no words to express the gratitude the mission team feels to these groups/individuals and to the countless area residents who either donated through areas churches or private donations. A team member stated that this trip would not have been possible if not for the compassion and generosity of the people at home. It was truly an honor to represent them to the people of Moore.

While there the mission team worked a day in a farmer’s field, forming a grid and walking through picking up more debris in five gallon buckets to try to get the field ready for fall planting. This farmer, as well as many others, had lost his entire crop and much of his livestock when the tornadoes struck in May.

There is still much to be done in Moore, and if anyone is interested making a monetary donation or forming a volunteer group, please check out servemoore.com or call 405-795-3060.

One of the workers at the Serve Moore Headquarters told a member of the group, “When I thought of West Virginia before, I always thought of coal, now when I think of West Virginia, I’ll think of kind hearts.

The mission team is very grateful to the kind hearts of the local area who made this trip possible.