A mission in Spartanburg

LCC staff, volunteers bringing care, assistance to region still reeling from Hurricane Helene in 2024  ​

Twenty-one months ago, Hurricane Helene roared ashore along the Big Bend region of Florida at 140 mph — Category 4 — and, over two days, cut a swath of devastation across eight states, spawning tornadoes, triggering landslides, and swamping communities across the southeast and Appalachia.  

The storm destroyed tens of thousands of homes and businesses, inflicted $78 billion in damage, and took the lives of 252 people, making it the deadliest to strike the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 

Almost two years later, thousands of people are still reeling from the destruction, living in temporary shelters, homes cratered in disrepair, families uprooted, surviving with minimal essentials. 

Spartanburg, SC, is one of those places. Overlooked compared to other hard-hit regions, the town of 38,000 continues to rebuild and assist residents trying to recover. 

“While neighboring areas have received attention and recovery assistance, Spartanburg has been among the forgotten communities that has had little resources to help them restore their homes and rebuild their lives,” said Deac. Kathy O’Day, director of LCC Disaster Response. “These individuals and families are still looking for wholeness and tangible help.”

This week, a team of more than 50 Lutheran Church Charities staff and volunteers and volunteers with Lutheran Servants For Christ will be there, deploying to upstate South Carolina to co-lead a major coordinated humanitarian relief event called Helene Recovery and Preparedness Day, a multi-agency resource distribution that will offer spiritual and material support for survivors. 
 
For LCC, the mission is a re-engagement, having sent Cares teams to serve with affiliate churches in North Carolina multiple times and LCC LERT crews to work disaster sites for more than a dozen weeks since the September 2024 storm hit.

“One of our key characteristics as a ministry is presence,” said LCC President/CEO Rev. Chris Singer. “We are called to BE THERE, and our supporters and volunteers are alongside LCC this week to see the need, serve where were welcomed, and stay for ongoing encouragement and help.”

This weekend’s effort will include all four of LCC’s primary ministry areas with helping hands trained in Spiritual First Aid™ from LCC Cares, Disaster Response, Hearts of Mercy & Compassion, and K-9 Comfort Dog Ministries, including Comfort Dogs Faith (St. Stephens – Hickory, NC), Seth (Eternal Shepherd – Seneca, SC), and Zoara (Crosswaters Ministries/Island Lutheran – Hilton Head, SC).

LCC is partnering with the LCMS’s Southeastern District, Lutheran Servants For Christ, Samaritan’s Feet, the Spartanburg Emergency Operations Center, and other local agencies in the mission event with about 300 to 500 individuals — approximately 250 families — expected to receive assistance, including food, clothing, shoes, weather radios, heaters/cooling fans, emergency go bags, and more.  

For weeks, LCC affiliate churches, supporters, and donors have contributed funding and practical resources. This week, those items were sorted, labeled, and packed up for the 745-mile trip.

At the event on Saturday, volunteers will walk local residents around each station, listening to their stories, praying with them, and helping carry supplies to their cars.   

The event will be massive in scope: 

• Samaritan’s Feet will give more than 250 pairs of shoes in kids and adult sizes to registered families. 
• Marriott has gifted thousands of washcloths, towels, mats, blankets, and sheets. 
• Resurrection Lutheran in Spartanburg will pass out 400 donated quilts. 
• Lutheran Church Extension Fund is donating go-bags. 
• LCC and local groups will distribute hundreds of children’s books. 
• Orphan Grain Train is providing T-shirts, underwear, and socks. 
• LCC and Northern Illinois District LERT teams filled and are giving 180 backpacks for kids. 
• Families also are invited to pick up flood buckets and mold cleaner. 
• Heaters and cooling fans purchased by LCC and Lutheran Servants For Christ donors will be delivered to households who need them by the South Carolina Office of Resilience.