Mercy chefs service in florida after hurricane irma 091317

Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
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Tuesday afternoon: (9/13/17), an email we received today:

(KBC NEWS supports this organization. It is a Christian organization run by volunteers, feeding people)

Irma is making life miserable in south Florida.

Mercy Chefs is struggling to reach our deployment site in Bonita Springs, Florida — one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Irma. We had hoped to begin feeding body and soul there with dinner tonight, but traffic has been a nightmare. We've seen cars by the dozens backed up on interstate exit ramps, waiting for a chance to buy gas. Flooded roads have made reaching the coastal community nearly impossible, but our convoy is determined to keep going until we get there.

Irma is making life miserable for millions of Floridians. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed by the Category 4 storm, and power is still out almost everywhere around Bonita Springs. At a highway rest stop earlier, we saw rows and rows of trucks carrying utility poles. (See the photo below.) It could be weeks before electricity is restored in most areas. Without it, refrigerators and air conditioners don't work, which leads to lots of grumpy people.

Naples Daily News reports that, when Irma hit, Bonita Springs still hadn't dried out from a recent severe-weather event: "A major storm earlier this month dumped more than 15 inches of rain in the area in three days, raising the Imperial River above its banks and into homes … Streets dry for less than a week were struck by Hurricane Irma's water. Intersections flooded knee high weeks ago now had water that reached above an adult person's waist."

Thanks to our new refrigerated truck, Mercy Chefs' deployment team will arrive on site with 24,000 meals for hurricane victims and first responders in Bonita Springs. Our goal was to be prepared to handle whatever Irma threw at us. While the cost to purchase and carry that food with us into Florida was significant ($60,000+), it will allow us to begin feeding people immediately.

Many times, when our team reaches a disaster area, we're not sure what we'll find in terms of infrastructure and resources. Purchasing groceries and other supplies on site can be a significant challenge. So, with Irma expected to be such a powerful and destructive storm, we took steps to acquire everything needed to hit the ground running.

Can you please help Mercy Chefs cover some of the costs associated with purchasing and transporting 24,000 meals to south Florida? Your tax-deductible donation today will provide hot, nutritious, high-quality meals to people in need.

Click here or on the banner below now to support Mercy Chefs' ongoing efforts to feed victims, first responders and volunteers at three storm-ravaged locations in two states, as we continue other vital outreaches:

Mercy Chefs prepares and serves hot, nutritious, restaurant-quality meals to disaster victims, first responders and volunteers. This is real food — "comfort" food — that you help us provide to people whose lives have been turned upside down. I wanted you to see what our chefs served in Texas the other day. The attached photo is a lunch of smoked pork tenderloin with mango chutney, blueberry-maple stuffing, squash medley and a homemade "blondie":

We urgently need your continued support to prepare and serve thousands more of these high-quality, chef-prepared meals (for just $2.50 each) in two states at three locations — starting TOMORROW! Your tax-deductible gift of $100 today can help feed 40 storm victims, first responders and volunteers. A donation of only $50 can bless 20 hurting people in a disaster area. Please click here to give now.

Thank you, in advance, for your support.

Blessings,

Gary

P.S. Mercy Chefs is still providing thousands of daily meals in Rockport and the Houston area. We refuse to abandon hurting people in south Texas and will stay there as long as the need exists. But with thousands more emergency meals now needed in Bonita Springs, our job just got much more difficult. Please give, if you can. Simply click here or on the banner below to make your best tax-deductible gift now to help Mercy Chefs feed body and soul in Florida and Texas, as we continue other vital outreach efforts:

Source: Hurricane Irma: Bonita Springs, Estero survey storm damage (Naples Daily News)

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Mercy Chefs is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing hot meals to victims and volunteers in disaster and other desperate situations. Our simple mission to "just feed people" is only possible through the generous support of friends like you. Copyright 2017 Mercy Chefs

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