The Boones Mill Baptist Church hosted an Emergency Preparedness Awareness Day at the church on Whispering Creek Road in Boones Mill today (August 22, 2009). The event was sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia. Cynthia Griffin, Mid-West Region Coordinator for SBC of Virginia & a member of Boones Mill Baptist Church graciously took the time to explain what everything was and how SBC of VA was prepared to help with disasters anywhere in the United States. She said the organization plans to make the awareness day an annual event. Future events will probably be held every August.

Also there was Mark Gauthier who is the Disater Relief Director for SBC of Virginia. Mr. Gauthier explained that National SBC is organized into 42 State Conventions and has over 92,000 volunteers and 2017 Disaster Relief Trailers (recovery & kitchen).  In Virginia there are 3,300 volunteers. According to Mr. Gauther the kitchen trailer they had on display spent 71 days in Mississippi, New Orleans, and Florida after hurricain Katrina & the other subsequent hurricains that year. During that trip the kitchen trailer served over 7,500,000 meals. The kitchen trailers have the capacity to serve 12,000 to 15,000 mealse per day if they have the food to prepare. Getting the food to the trailer kitchens is the biggest problem when they go on disaster relief missions.