Churches come together to feed the hungry during tornado clean up
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Volunteers from churches throughout the county have set up at Harrisburg First United Methodist Church at 122 W. Poplar St. and fed 1,200 people Thursday.
The volunteers were to continue with breakfast, lunch and supper through Saturday and possibly Sunday if there still is a need, according to volunteer Mary Reed.
"Everyone has been overwhelmingly supportive," Reed said.
The meals are going to the Salvation Army which was to take food in portable feeding stations to the areas worst affected by Wednesday morning's tornado and emergency responders and residents have been stopping by the church. The people are eating at the church or taking sacks of food with them.
"We've had so many people coming in to say, 'Can I get 30 meals?'" Reed said.
Reed said beginning Monday the group plans to take food to Saline County Golden Circle residents since the Golden Circle was lost to the storm.
"We are willing to cook and deliver meals to the shut ins," Reed said.
On Thursday RIDES Mass Transit district drivers delivered about 50 meals to the affected areas.
"We are providing 400 for the Salvation Army for lunch and 400 meals for supper tonight," Reed said.
Thursday they provided meals to the Red Cross Shelter at Harrisburg First Baptist Church and 100 meals to the Ridgway Fire Department to take to Ridgway residents affected by the tornado that hit that town.
Donations have been overwhelming. Friday Federal Express arrived with a delivery of cups, coffee and a $5,000 check. That donation came from Mesia Aly of Henderson, Nev. Aly is a former Eddyville resident.
Representatives of a church from Canton traveled five hours to make a donation. The group sat with the church Pastor Christine Cunningham and local police to hear of the devastation in town.
Mike Mills, owner of 17th Street Bar and Grill, and employees donated their time and equipment in the church's kitchen Thursday and donated equipment to the group Operation BBQ Relief, Inc. which composed of competition barbecue cooks from around the nation.
"We started in Joplin and formed into a non-profit after that," Will Cleaver, co-founder and executive director of operations of Kansas City, Mo., said.
Operation BBQ Relief is set up in the First United Methodist Church Thursday getting ready for lunch.
The members have vans, trailers and smokers they can put into action quickly and respond to disaster areas.
Cleaver said he anticipates a large number of family and friends of the Wednesday morning tornado victims to arrive over the weekend to help with cleanup. The church will have plenty of barbecue ready for those volunteers and emergency workers.
The Operation BBQ Relieve smokes the barbecue and sends it inside to the church where volunteers make the sides and serve the meals.