Current Status: active

About Disaster Relief

Who Are We?

It was 1967 during the aftermath of Hurricane Beulah that Southern Baptist Disaster Relief was birthed by six guys using a buddy burner to heat canned food along the Texas coast to feed survivors.  Fast forward 50 plus years, today Southern Baptists have over 1,500 Disaster Relief units strategically situated throughout the United States staffed by trained volunteers prepared to minister to hurting people directly affected by disasters. 

Arkansas Baptist State Convention Disaster Relief extends the love of Christ to disaster survivors by preparing hot meals, removing damaging trees and debris, tarping roofs, cleaning up after floods, providing emergency communications, and coordinating our response through incident management teams. Following a common ministry pattern of Jesus Christ, Disaster Relief chaplains and volunteers seek to share God’s grace, hope, and Truth while meeting physical needs. Disaster Relief volunteers, also, provide hot showers and clean laundry to hard working Disaster Relief volunteers. Disaster Relief is a ministry of the heart – caring people going to people in crisis to offer the help, healing, and hope of Jesus Christ.

Our Staff

Randy Garrett

Director of Disaster Relief

Randy Garrett, the Disaster Relief Director for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, strategizes and coordinates ABSC disaster response, working alongside other VOADs (Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster). He currently serves on the Governor’s Arkansas Homeland Security Executive Council and Arkansas Area Maritime Security Committee as the representative for non-governmental organizations (NGO) active in disaster response. Randy is also an NGO member of the Electric Infrastructure Security Council, an international group addressing black sky preparedness.

As a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Arkansas, with a BSBA in Marketing and Finance, Randy and his wife, Charlotte, have four adult children, ten grandchildren, and one great grandchild. In his leisure time he enjoys outdoor activities including hunting, fishing, and hiking.

Greg Hutchison

Disaster Relief Coordinator

Greg assists the director with strategies, deployments and support during disasters. Greg joined the organization as a volunteer in 2000 with his first deployment to the World Trade Center disaster followed by many other deployments.

A graduate of Arkansas State University with a degree in Agriculture Business. Greg and his wife Paulette have two children and one grandchild.  A deacon at Wooster First Baptist and a Royal Ambassador leader for over 25 years. In his leisure time he enjoys Dutch oven cooking and spending time in the RV.

Keturah Quimby

Disaster Relief Ministry Assistant

Keturah and her husband, Clay joined Disaster Relief in 2016! They have joined on deployments doing flood recovery in Pocahontas and a feeding unit in Houston during Hurricane Harvey. In September of 2018, Keturah joined Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief as the DR Ministry Assistant! 

Keturah attended John Brown University where she graduated with a degree in Outdoor Leadership Ministries. Keturah and her husband enjoy spending time outdoors and going on new adventures!

Disaster Relief Teams

CHAINSAW UNITS​

provide chainsaw services – removing tree limb debris and making temporary and minor structural repairs to homes impacted by disaster. Many chainsaw units also have heavy equipment, such as skid steers and man lifts to assist in tree removal.

CHAPLAINS

provide spiritual and emotional care to persons impacted by disaster and deployed unit volunteers.

COMMUNICATION UNITS

provide communication services when normal communication methods (such as cell phones) are absent or inadequate, conveying messages via computers, ham radios, and business band radios.

FEEDING UNITS

provide mobile kitchen facilities and teams to prepare and serve meals to disaster survivors.

SHOWER/LAUNDRY UNITS

provide shower and laundry services to deployed volunteers. These units may also be used to provide services to the public after a disaster and for non-disaster events including church mission trips, secular sporting events, and various other ministries.

BOX UNIT

provides flat boxes, tape, and markers to survivors forced to move after a disaster.

FLOOD RECOVERY UNITS

provide clean-up services to homes impacted by flooding – removing debris, sanitizing, and preparing homes for reconstruction.

INCIDENT COMMAND UNIT

provides deployment management of units and volunteers.

TEAM MAP

Communications Units

01 ABSC – Little Rock

Feeding Units

01 UNIT #1 – North Little Rock
02 FORREST CITY – Forrest City
03 NORTH AR – Harrison
04 RED RIVER – Arkadelphia
06 WASHINGTON/MADISON – Fayetteville
08 CAREY – Fordyce
09 CURRENT-GAINES – Corning
10 LIBERTY – El Dorado
11 SOUTHEAST NETWORK – Warren
13 CORNERS CHAPEL – Trumann

Shower Units

01 MOUNT ZION – Jonesboro
02 GEYER SPRINGS FBC – Little Rock
03 TRI-COUNTY – Marion
04 OZARK – Ozark
05 SOUTHEAST NETWORK – Warren
06 CORNERS CHAPEL – Trumann

Box Unit

01 FAULKNER – Wooster
02 STATE – Carlisle

Incident Management Unit

01 ABSC – Little Rock

Recovery Units

01 FAULKNER – Conway
02 AR RIVER VALLEY – Russellville
03 SOUTHWEST – Texarkana
04 FIRST CLARKSVILLE – Clarksville
05 WHITE RIVER – Gassville
06 INDIAN SPRINGS BC – Bryant
07 INDEPENDENCE – Batesville
08 NORTHWEST – Siloam Springs
09 HARMONY – Pine Bluff
10 SOUTHEAST NETWORK – Warren
11 ROCKY BAYOU – Franklin
12 LITTLE RIVER – Nashville
14 ARKANSAS VALLEY – West Helena
15 GRAND AVENUE – Fort Smith
16 UNION VALLEY BC – Beebe
17 BLACK RIVER – Hoxie
18 TRI-COUNTY – Marion
19 BALBOA BC – Hot Springs Village
20 CENTRAL BC – Jonesboro
21 CROSS CHURCH – Springdale
22 WALNUT STREET BC – Jonesboro
23 BIG CREEK- Mammoth Springs
24 OUACHITA – Mena
25 CENTENNIAL – Stuttgart
26 VALLEY BC – Searcy
27 NORTH CENTRAL – Clinton
28 FELLOWSHIP – Little Rock
29 STATE FLOOD RECOVERY – Little Rock
30 STATE FLOOD RECOVERY – Little Rock
31 FIRST SOUTHERN BC – Bryant
32 BECKSPUR – Forrest City
33 FIRST RUSSELLVILLE – Russellville
34 GRAVES MEMORIAL – North Little Rock

Rebuild

01 ABSC – Little Rock
02 ABSC – Little Rock

Join Us

Volunteer Today

So you want to make a difference in the lives of disaster survivors? We need you on our team!