News

Wynne parishioners are feeding tornado survivors

Collection taken up in Falmouth, Mass., sent to help St. Peter's efforts

Published: April 18, 2023      

By Anthony Reiter
Special to Arkansas Catholic

Courtesy St. Peter Church

Parishioners at St. Peter Church and Catholic Charities of Arkansas provide a free breakfast on Holy Saturday April 8 at St. Peter Church for the Wynne community that was affected by the March 31 tornado.

Courtesy St. Peter Church

Parishioners at St. Peter Church and Catholic Charities of Arkansas provide a free breakfast on Holy Saturday April 8 at St. Peter Church for the Wynne community that was affected by the March 31 tornado.

Catholics in Wynne are working with community organizations to help parishioners and their neighbors with relief and recovery from the March 31 tornadoes that destroyed parts of Pulaski and Cross counties.

The devastating storms that tore through Arkansas March 31 affected central Arkansas and also hit Wynne, a town of 8,000 in Cross County about 50 miles west of Memphis.

While St. Peter Church was not damaged. Jill Hamrick, administrative assistant at St. Peter, said there are “at least three parishioners whose homes are total losses” and “at least two have substantial damage to their homes from trees” falling.

Of the five Arkansans who died in the storms, four of them lived in Wynne.

When asked if Wynne has received outside assistance, St. Peter parishioner Sam McGuire said, “Oh, my yes, I’ve seen Tyson, the Red Cross … the Salvation Army. There’s an organization that makes barbecues up here that has brought in 67 trucks and Porta-Potties. There’s just a ton of relief pouring into the town.”

While the church’s internet and phone systems were down, McGuire assisted with public relations between the church and local and national media.

As search-and-rescue operations have ended in the days after the storm, relief efforts will shift to long-term recovery. McGuire said, “When you go down to the old part of downtown that has a lot of old houses, a lot of them are just on the ground. Also, according to my realtor, there were no houses available for rent of sale in Wynne before this. So I think the biggest thing is going to be finding housing for everyone.”

McGuire said most of the town went without power for six days, but power crews “are planning to leave tonight (April 6) … There are only so many houses that are capable of getting power” as the storm has rendered many houses unlivable.

Electricity came back on at St. Peter around 3 p.m. April 4, three hours after Bishop Anthony B. Taylor celebrated an outdoor Mass for the community. Internet service had not been restored to the church by April 6.

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor also visited with those who were affected by the tornado. Dennis Lee, chancellor for administrative affairs who oversees Catholic Charities of Arkansas, also talked with parishioners April 4. He said the priority will be assessing the needs of displaced people and beginning casework services.

Bishop Taylor stopped by Wynne United Methodist Church, which was severely damaged by the storm. McGuire said the Knights of Columbus are lending their hall to the Methodist church for its services.

Some of the donations collected during the second collection at all April 15-16 Masses for the Catholic Charities Disaster Relief Fund will support disaster relief in Wynne. Lee said Catholic Charities of Arkansas is coordinating its efforts through local parishes and with Arkansas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.

Lee said Catholic Charities worked with St. Peter Church to provide a free breakfast to the community on Holy Saturday, April 8.

Msgr. Stephen Avila, pastor of St. Joseph Guardian of the Holy Family Parish in Falmouth, Mass., had a collection taken up at Holy Thursday Mass April 6 to aid relief efforts in Wynne.

“The Holy Thursday collection, actually in the rubrics of the Roman Missal, is suggested to be for a charitable cause,” he said. “One year it might be for the soup kitchen in our local area or something. So I try to give a specific cause that we look at on Holy Thursday. Seeing some of the devastation there I said, ‘Hey, why don’t we reach out to Arkansas and see if we can help?’”

Lee said, “Msgr. Avila’s parish collection will enable St. Peter’s to provide meals to-go and gift cards for people who need necessities now.”

Msgr. Avila said his parish collected $3,895 for the Wynne parish.

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