DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News ) – Texas Baptist Men is raising money to help the victims this week’s devastating dam break in southern Ukraine and a train crash in India that killed over 280 people last week.
Rand Jenkins is the Dallas non-profit’s Senior Director of Advancement and said TBM has been working in Ukraine since the war broke out last year and adds that the man-made cause of the Kakhovka dam collapse adds another layer of psychological problems for victims as crews help those impacted by flooding.
“Water rises immediately, you’ve seen the pictures, you’ve heard some of the stories of people fleeing for higher ground. We’re there with rafts, with food, with life-saving devices to be able to get people out of harms way,” he said.
Ukraine accused Rusian forces of blowing up the dam which also serves as a hydroelectric power station. Russian officials blamed Ukraine for the disaster.
Meanwhile, crews are still searching for bodies through the wreckage of the train crash in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India as families are grieving their lost loved ones.
Jenkins said TBM crews are trying to help make things easier for the victims and their families in anyway they can.
“We’ve been able to have our ministry partners there from the beginning to offer with medical help but also provide families with food and water as they’re going through this and just be there to be a time of comfort in this huge disaster that they’ve had,” he said.
Officials in both Ukraine and India said it’s going to take months for impacted cities and residents to recover.
“The flooding is going to take several months for them to rebuild after the dam is repaired…which has to be done first. Trains are a major way of transportation in India and it’s going to take people a while to overcome this when they’ve lost someone in a train wreck,” he said.
As the recovery process is still in its beginning stages, TBM wants potential donors to know that each dollar raised goes directly to helping victims.
“The funds that we are raising for this are already at work in those two countries. What we raise for this…a hundred percent of this goes to the cause. So, everything that you’re able to give is having a direct impact on people’s lives,” he said.
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