Operation: Appalachia Strong

07/15/2025

I was invited to WTVQ ABC 36 for a live interview yesterday. This was a first for me but they made it look easy. True professionals.

Categories: Community, GDK, GDK Guests

07/09/2025

Operation: Appalachia Strong is recruiting volunteers for a work day in London KY on Saturday, July 12. We will be cleaning up property destroyed by the tornado that has been cleared by equipment as much as possible. The need by then will be for live bodies to cover the area like a horde of locusts and pick up all the small stuff and get it to the street for disposal. We will be using rakes, shovels, magnets, brooms, wheel barrows, buckets, garbage bags and similar manual yard tools. If you have any of these tools, feel free to bring your own. I suggest you put your name on them. Work will start at 8 am and continue to 4 pm. Lunch and cold drinks will be provided. We will have a couple of tents, tables and chairs to get in out of the sun. The tents, water, fans, and Porta Johns will be located at 251 Meadowlane Road.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/9tKKWje8iwMPc55p7

Look for the 20 x 20 tent and Penske Truck.
We will start there and go 4 directions. I do need an approximate number of people planning to work and how long. You do not have to work all day. Anyone wanting to participate can reply below, message me here on Facebook or call me at Minuteman Press at 606-862-9195. I have already heard from several but I expect several more. It's going to be a great day for serving the community. You won't be the same and you won't be sorry.

05/26/2025

Alex Barber came by Minuteman press today and brought his camera. This is the result.
https://www.lex18.com/news/covering-kentucky/local-nonprofit-serves-hot-meals-to-tornado-victims-in-laurel-county?fbclid=IwY2xjawKg4c5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHlznRWpvCm8sPgIHP9EDUG64E5SNrJTh5dVGHhKfxeZ3IwODkQoB4LLSs-of_aem_KJ_iIS7Py9O3P1rNeYr9Lw

A local nonprofit is providing hot meals to those affected by the recent tornado in Laurel County, bringing comfort to their own community after serving in other disaster areas.

05/20/2025

Operation: Appalachia Strong returned home Sunday night from 3 days in the flood damaged area of Jackson KY in Breathitt County. We have made almost too many trips to count for the purpose of feeding the food insecure victims of disaster and repairing their damaged homes. Every trip has its own signature and impacts our team on different personal levels. This trip was no different. We drove though a torrential downpour on the way over and had a tree fall across the road in the black hole of cell phone service. An hour later road crews showed up with chain saws and cleared the way. I don't know how much they get paid, but it's not enough. We arrived on site at SEC Auto Sales and prepared as best we could due to the weather forecast. We did not set up any equipment because the weather forecast was rain all night and 50 to 70 MPH winds. Little did we know that at 1 am we would be on our cell phones watching the weather unfold in our home town with us 100 miles away. We read the posts, watched the videos of the damage and destruction in our own neighborhoods, prayed, cried and prayed some more. Then we rolled up our sleeves and went to work with our thoughts never far from our friends and families.
The owner of SEC Auto Sales is Dwayne Shoemaker. He took me on a trip through some of the most severely flood damaged neighborhoods. We went through water much too deep to drive through in a small car but that did not stop him. On the other side of the water were trailer parks with dozens of uninhabitable trailers. The problem is, they still lived there. No electricity, no water, doors missing but nowhere else to go. This trip was an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. We served over 1800 meals to families from all around Jackson KY and distributed 180 cases of water to anyone who wanted it. Their gratitude was often overwhelming. Many had not had meals like we serve in a long while and they let us know that. When they found out we were from London, the tables turned. They prayed for US. They donated money to US. They offered support to US. The values and character of East KY people never ceases to amaze me. I have never had so much money slipped into my hand during a handshake. They ran from as much as $50 to as little as a one dollar bill. I am pretty sure that one dollar was just as hard or harder to come by as the fifty. We arrived home late Sunday night, totally spent but blessed beyond measure. The miracles of God are surrounded by natural disaster. You won't see them close up from your Lazy Boy recliner but if you will put yourself where people need a miracle, you won't be disappointed.