Helping Flood Victims One Bucket at a Time

When you have lost everything in a flood, the overwhelming thought may be, “How do I start over?” 

For the Methodist churches in the area, the answer was swift and decisive. Those affected by flooding need flood buckets. 

For years, churches’ mission groups have put together buckets of cleaning supplies and shipped them to Mechanicsburg, where Mission Central is located. From there, Mission Central ships them to where the need is most at the time. Many area churches are involved in this endeavor.

Linda Mundy Boone spoke about their efforts.

“The supplies are located at my church, which is Trinity United Methodist Church,’ said Boone. “The public is asked to help with our collections by bringing buckets, wipes and other supplies to 130 N. Water St. in Bellefonte, at TMG Builders, where a trailer is parked and waiting. The storage trailer was donated by Valley Trucking to take the supplies to Mechanicsburg. The diesel fuel is being donated by Snappy’s.”

Mundy Boone said that people have been very generous and the organizers are very grateful. Organizers are accepting supplies until Thursday, Sept. 28, so there is still time to lend a hand — and a bucket — to this good neighbor relief project.

According to the United Methodist Committee on Relief website, these are the items needed for each cleaning kit:

■ One 5-gallon round bucket with a resealable lid
Buckets from fast-food restaurants or bakeries can be used if washed and cleaned, but buckets that have stored chemicals cannot be used. Advertisements on the outside are acceptable. Only round buckets can be used to ensure proper stacking during transport.

■ Liquid laundry detergent
One 50 ounce bottle or two 25 ounce bottles only.

■ Liquid household cleaner
A 12- to 16-ounce liquid cleaner that can be mixed with water; no spray cleaners.

■ Dish soap
A 16- to 28-ounce bottle; any brand is acceptable.

■ 50 clothespins

■ Clothesline
One 100-foot or two 50-foot lines, either cotton or plastic.

■ Seven sponges
No cellulose sponges, due to mold issues. Sponges should be removed from packaging.

■ Heavy-duty trash bags 
A 24-bag roll of 33- to 45-gallon sizes, removed from the box.

■ 18 cleaning wipes
Handi Wipes or reusable wipes; no terrycloth cleaning towels. Remove from packaging.

■ One can of aerosol or pump air freshener

■ One bottle of insect-repellant spray

A 6- to 14-ounce aerosol or spray pump with a protective cover.

■ Two pairs of kitchen dishwashing gloves

Should be durable enough for multiple uses; remove from packaging.

■ One pair of work gloves
All-cotton, all-leather or cotton with leather palms.

■ Five scouring pads
No stainless steel, and nothing with soap in the pad (such as Brillo or SOS).

■ One scrub brush

■ Five dust masks