Dayton-area church volunteers help flood victims in Kentucky

Volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dayton area traveled to eastern Kentucky to help flood victims clean their homes and remove trees, debris and furniture. Photo courtesy The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dayton area traveled to eastern Kentucky to help flood victims clean their homes and remove trees, debris and furniture. Photo courtesy The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Hundreds of volunteers provided help to flood victims in eastern Kentucky through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dayton area.

Heavy rains at the end of July resulted in flash floods and mudslides that killed multiple people in eastern Kentucky.

The “Helping Hands” volunteers worked with others from Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and other parts of Ohio.

Volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dayton area traveled to eastern Kentucky to help flood victims clean their homes and remove trees, debris and furniture. Photo courtesy The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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The volunteers met on Aug. 27 and 28 at the church’s volunteer command center in Martin, Kentucky, to receive work orders submitted through the Crisis Cleanup Hotline, according to a press release. Volunteers helped remove mud, muck out homes and remove tress, debris and furniture from homes.

A group of volunteers from Beavercreek helped a widow clear debris and mud from her house and cleaned and organized other buildings on her property, according to the church. A team of 15 volunteers from Centerville helped a Jenkins, Kentucky, woman and her extended family clean their three homes.

“Many items in the homes were unsalvageable, but the homeowners were grateful for the help,” read the press release. “Some Helping Hands volunteers formed quick friendships with the homeowners. Their goodbye was emotional, with one volunteer expressing that ‘they received more by helping than the homeowners by receiving help.’”

The church also sent water, meals and cleaning supplies with the volunteers to hand out to residents.

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