Following the devastating tornadoes that swept through the Midwest last weekend, Glenn shared that Mercury One had made its way to the areas most effected by the storms and were working with local churches and organizations to assist in any way possible. On radio this morning, Glenn was able to share some “really good news” about the rebuilding efforts.
“By the way really good news on that. In Illinois, there are two things that I have to share with you from Mercury One,” Glenn said. “Mercury One has been on the ground, and they are in the worse devastation.”
The first thing Glenn wanted to share involved an incredible photograph that was taken outside a church:
The church has been so inundated with donations they actually no longer have space to store everything. Instead, the church is asking that donations be given to other churches and organizations in the area.
“Have you seen that in America,” Glenn asked. “That is because of people actually helping one another. This particular church was because Mercury One was there, and it is because of what you donated. One of the first stops was here, and they said, ‘We don’t need anything else. We are totally set. Please take it someplace else.’ So we are taking care of – I shouldn't say we – you are taking care of people.”
Part of the mission of Mercury One is to allow the private sector, the individual to provide aide to those in need, so that we aren’t relying on the federal government and FEMA to bail us out when disasters strike.
“Mercury One’s goal was, at some point, to be able to create the America that we were in the 1920s before Herbert Hoover,” Glenn explained. “There was a huge flood [in 1927], and [then-Secreaty of Commerce] Hoover decided he needed to send trucks down to help the south with this really nasty flood. When the trucks came, the people actually met those trucks in the streets with guns and said, ‘Turn your federal trucks around. We don't need you here. We don't want you here. We are a community that takes care of ourselves.’ And they actually turned the trucks and sent them back home to Washington.”
Yesterday in Illinois, a very similar situation unfolded. The FEMA trucks arrived at a church that some Mercury One volunteers happened to be at, the townspeople told the FEMA workers their help was not needed.
“[FEMA] said well, ‘We're here to help,’” Glenn explained. “[The community] said, ‘We got it covered. Our community has come together. We have it covered. Go find someplace else. Turn your trucks around. We don't need you here. That's our job.’ Success, America. Success.”
“That's pretty amazing,” Pat said, “because the devastation there was almost total.”
“People couldn't find their own streets. They didn't know where anything was. It was all gone,” Glenn agreed. “That's fantastic! I wanted to give you some good news here.”