Diakonia UCA

After the waters subsided, Kenmore Uniting Church offered their premises as a distribution and sorting centre for flood relief. Congregation members shared their Sunday morning services with ever-growing piles of clothes, small furniture, toys, linen and other needed items. There was also a register of larger items that put people in direct contact with what they needed.
Within two days of a request being advertised on the church sign, over 30 people from the community had offered to staff the centre and help church members with sorting and packing, along with local Rotary members. Trainee minister David Nix (a deacon candidate), one of the coordinators of the relief effort, said the church was grateful for the support.
Many areas in the Kenmore district were flooded, including Fig Tree Pocket, Kenmore, Bellbowrie and Moggill. While most volunteers were from the areas surrounding the church, others from flooded regions such as Jindalee and Indooroopilly helped too. Most volunteers said they were grateful for the chance to pitch in and help, but they were unable to do the back breaking work of cleaning up the mess, sludge and devastation caused by the floods.
The church helped those from within the local area, but was also able to send significant supplies of aid to other flood affected areas such as Emerald, Ipswich, Goodna and Grantham.
Rev. Heather den Houting (Deac) said that requests were still coming in from outlying areas, and good were continuing to be delivered in small trucks, utes and cars. “Sharing our worship space with donated aid has meant Sunday worship has been cosy, but it is a wonderful reminder that congregations are still very much part of their community.”