Help Restore Hope for Jim & Dee Tooley

October 2 is my Dad, Jim Tooley's 84th birthday - this would typically be a day when people could call him or send greetings on Facebook (which he may or may not be able to access). He's not as agile as he was a few years ago - most days, though, he's as busy as ever helping folks in his community at the Hinton House (non-profit), volunteering at the Scott Nursing Home, or praying throughout the day for people he knows have needs.

On Thursday, September 26th, nearly one week ago - Hurricane Helen barreled from the Gulf of Mexico across the Big Bend area of Florida, into South Georgia where my parents live and upward through the Carolinas - even impacting areas into the midwest.

Trees were uprooted throughout Georgia and the county where my parents live, Johnson County, had some of the worst devastation to trees - impacting electrical lines that they are hearing may not be restored for up to 6 weeks from now.

Besides having a fallen pecan tree against their home, their entire community's electricity is out - impacting their ability to have their water well function.

So, for nearly a week, they have survived on using electricity from a generator at my brother Rick's house (about a block away, if you were in the city). They've survived by getting buckets of water from another neighbor down the road who has a generator at his water well.

My parents are both 84 years old - while I wish I had the resources to help them purchase a power generator and other items that they're going to need for the next several weeks, I simply do not have those resources.

Jim and Dee Tooley have touched the lives of thousands of people - having worked for the Church of the Nazarene, the Salvation Army, and having coordinated Nazarene Disaster Response in Gulfport, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.

I'd LOVE to give people an opportunity to bless these two precious folks who've helped SO many people over the years.

Would you help Jim Tooley have a blessed 84th birthday?

[Written by Joel Tooley, Jim & Dee's youngest son who lives a few hours away in Central Florida]