Fikes Truck Line, Hope, Ark., is lending equipment and drivers, and covering fuel costs in the delivery of food, water, personal care items, blankets, medicine kits, and more to the areas in the South

where thousands have fled their homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Since the first weekend in September, the company has driven three truckloads of donations gathered through community initiatives, including a drive organized by the United Methodist Committee on Relief and a contest between rival high schools to fill a trailer with water bottles.
Kelly Andrews, director of safety for Fikes, has made all three deliveries. Two shipments went to Louisiana – the first to Baldwin, and the second to Lafayette where the Red Cross needed water for 7,000 refugees housed at the Cajun Dome.
The third shipment, the water bottles collected from students at the Prescott and Springdale High Schools in Arkansas, was driven to a vacant Winn-Dixie in Jackson, Miss., where a relief site has been established.
“We all want to do something to help,” says Kelly, “so when the call came in from the United Methodist Church asking for a truck, we realized that this is what we can do.”
Fikes’ President, Jim Smith has deep ties to the areas affected by the hurricane and has pledged, “Whatever they need us to do, we’ll do. Trucks and drivers will be critical to relief and rebuilding efforts.”
Keith McGhee, director of Youth and Children’s Ministries at Hope’s United Methodist Church, made the call to Fikes. “We needed the supplies, but also a way to get them to the people affected by the crisis. This has been community effort with contributions from groups all over the area.”
For more information, visit www.fikes.com.