Church returns from tornado relief trip

 Church returns from tornado relief trip

Stefanie Bainum

-- Harbor Light Baptist Church on James Island recently returned from a relief effort to help tornado victims in Henryville, Indiana. It was one of the hardest hit towns affected by a strong round of tornadoes that impacted the Midwest in early March. On Sunday, members of the church spoke about their experience in Indiana. The Pastor of Harbor Light, Keith Burgess, ministered in Henryville, Indiana for three years. His daughter, Marie Perry, graduated from a high school that was destroyed there and she's the one that came up with the idea to collect supplies and deliver them to Indiana.
"As soon as I found out it was pretty much wiped off the map, I knew I had to do something," said Marie Perry, the Pastor's daughter who started the Indiana relief effort. "It was so surreal. I felt I was on a movie scene. It just didn't seem real. I was in shock."
What started as a small relief effort, turned into so much more.
"It was going to be me and my best friend driving my husband's truck and my car, we didn't think it was going to get to the point where we had to rent a u-haul. It was very overwhelming," Perry said.
The people of Harbor Light Baptist Church raised over $3,000 in monetary funds, and thousands more in supplies for the people of Indiana.
"We even got phone calls from people in Massachusetts and Ohio wanting to help out," Perry said. "I'm very touched by everyone who has helped here and the love they have shown to people they don't even know."
The Church is still accepting monetary donations for tornado victims. If you would like to help, you can send a check to Harbor Light Baptist Church at 1300 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston S.C. 29412. Be sure to mark your donation for the Indiana Relief Effort.