With excessive rain amounts hitting Farmville over Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19, Farmville Area Community Emergency Services (FACES) was in the midst of their normal Saturday morning distribution when water started coming in forcing them to shut down, according to FACES President Ellery Sedgwick.
“We scrambled and we got a lot of the food protected at that point. We have a large refrigerated truck so all the freezers were emptied and the beef was placed in the refrigerated truck along with some other food,” said Sedgwick.
Sedgwick said FACES lost a few freezers, furniture and a “good bit of food” totaling an estimated $5,000 worth of damages.
“It was still crazy to see FACES in that way the floor was drenched and covered in mud, it was heartbreaking,” said Tanita Anthony, a FACES board of directors member.
Starting in 1981, FACES relies primarily on volunteers as well as money and food donations to serve residents of Prince Edward County in poverty.
In an effort to clean up the damage, FACES sought out the communities’ help on Tuesday, May 22. With roughly about 40 people helping to clean the muddy floors, sanitize food and remove the excess water, FACES will be able to re-open for distribution on Saturday, June 2 for their approximately 750 clients, said Sedgwick.
“It was terrific, it was a great outpouring of assistance,” said Sedgwick.
Anthony said without the community pitching in with the cleanup process, their ability to turnaround and reopen in a week would not be possible.
“For one this is something they (clients) rely on week to week so for us to make this immediate bounce back to be able to continue on with our distributions weekly that means a lot to them, that's another week to have the food they need,” said Anthony.
Sedgwick said a GoFundMe was set up in response as well as a couple “generous donations” have be made to faces totaling about $2,500 to $3,000.
“So many people on our board work at corporations around the town and we have people who have lived there (Farmville) their entire lives, even the students who come in and out, everybody knows FACES and everybody knows what we do for the community and how important the operation is,” said Anthony in response to the donations.
Anthony said FACES is waiting to assess the damage of five of their freezers, which could be a big financial hit for them if they are unsalvageable.
“That’s where we (FACES) keep all of our meat and that’s an important part of the food that we give out every week and we normally give out chicken and that could be the only meat that somebody has for an entire week,” said Anthony.
Deliveries to disabled clients and elderly clients went on schedule for Friday, May 25 as “those were already bagged”.
Before reopening, Sedgwick said the building will be inspected to ensure cleanliness and sanitation for clients and volunteers.
About 40 Volunteers gathered on Tuesday, May 22 to help FACES reopen on June 2.
During Saturday's distribution, FACES started noticing flooding and tried to salvage as much food as possible, still leaving a good bit of food ruined by the water.
Approximately 40 volunteers helped FACES organize and sanitize the salvageable food.
In order to keep meat donations, FACES utilizes multiple freezers that were damaged by the flooding.
