A Los Angeles minister is calling on his fellow Angelenos to load a 16-foot truck with food, clothes and other goods that he will drive halfway across the country to Oklahoma where neighborhoods are recovering from a deadly tornado.
Bobby Chance, founder of Streetwise Ministry, pledged to embark on the trek to Oklahoma starting Friday from Sunland Community Church.
He urged Southland residents to bring new items or gift cards to 8823 Fenwick St. in Sunland starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
"With years of doing this I've discovered people want you to come along and put an arm around them and say ‘God loves you, he hasn’t forgotten about you and you're going to get through this,'"
Chance said. "A lot of times that’s more important than even the tangible items."
Chance was moved to take the 1,328-mile trip in the "Hunger Buster" after reading about the devastation in Oklahoma where Monday's tornado demolished homes, businesses and schools, and killed at least 24 people.
"There’s a lot of devastation there," Chance said. "To bless people with new items, it justs lifts their spirits."
Chance will drive the donated items including food, clothing and sleeping bags to Gate Church in Oklahoma City.
Chance and his wife, Dot Chance, said this is one of many disasters when they felt the urge to help, like after the magnitude-8.9 earthquake in Japan in 2012.
"Whenever there’s a disaster in the world, we get involved to do whatever we can do," Dot Chance said.