From left, Tori Coblentz, Jessica Zawalich, both of Troy, Bev and Eric Goetz of Piqua, and Pastor Mark Coulter in the back stand in the lobby of The Valley Church located in the Sherwood Shopping Center. The church will collect water and other supplies to ship to Texas for their relief efforts.
MIAMI COUNTY — Everything is bigger in Texas — including the havoc last week’s winter storm that took its toll on hundreds of thousands of residents.
A local church is collecting donations to help those in the Lone Star state who endured major infrastructure damage following last week’s extreme winter weather.
On Monday, The Valley Church, located in Troy Sherwood Shopping Center at 916 N. Market St., kicked off its collection of bottled water, towels, formula, protein-rich shakes like Ensure, linens, adult and baby diapers, and much-needed shop vacs. The church is serving as a collection center for these items through Tuesday from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. Donations will then be sent to Dayton, which will leave for Texas on Wednesday morning.
Campus Pastor Mark Coulter said he was contacted by church member Caleb Ingram who was helping the Declare organization coordinate donation efforts in Dayton.
“One of the things we say around here a lot is that we don’t just sing and talk about the things Jesus did. We do the things Jesus told us to do,” Coulter said. “That’s why we love The Valley Church and the Troy community because they rally to support those in need.”
Coulter said he helped Ingram with logistics questions since the church had helped lead mass donations and collections for other missions like Honduras. Coulter offered Troy’s The Valley Church campus as another collection point north of Dayton for locals to help with the efforts.
Coulter said Ingram is working with Texas officials to send the donations to schools and communities in need.
“It’s for those who just don’t have the resources on a good day, let alone when a catastrophe happens,” Coulter said.
Coulter said although he has witnessed global poverty firsthand in mission work in Haiti and other third-world impoverished countries, watching fellow U.S. citizens struggle with basic needs such as water and heat has been heartbreaking.
“There’s no water. There’s no water on the shelves. There’s absolutely no water except in cracked pipes,” Coulter said. “They are going through such a tough time.”
Those who would like to donate can access the church lobby from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday. For more information, contact the church’s Facebook page and its Messenger app or call (937) 552-9414 and leave a message.
Two other Dayton churches are collecting donations on Tuesday: The Living Word Church at 250 North Cassel Road in Vandalia is collecting items from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the back of the building and Hopeland Church at 6025 Miller Lane in Dayton from 5-9 p.m.
