Some of the desserts served at a potluck style meal served last week at Pegram Church of Christ to Cheatham County survivors of the Dec. 11 tornado.SHARON ALICE LURIE
Belinda Webb, a resident of Kingston Springs, said to herself, “That could’ve been us” when hearing about the tornado survival experiences of her neighbors.
Because Webb loves Christmas, she got the idea to host a Christmas dinner. She reached out to Pegram Church of Christ Office Administrator Cindy Vick, who put out a signup sheet asking church members to bring food for the dinner.
Pegram Church of Christ, in coordination with Charlotte Heights Church of Christ in West Nashville, hosted a Christmas dinner for Cheatham County tornado survivors on Wednesday, Dec. 22.
The food was cooked and donated by church members and served to those who were affected by the storms of Dec. 11. Meals were also put in takeout containers and taken to people who were left without transportation.
Pegram Church of Christ, which is a designated disaster center for southern Cheatham County, is offering tools, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene items and bottled water to tornado survivors as well.
(Left to right) Pegram Mayor John Louallen, Pegram Church of Christ Office Administrator Cindy Vick and Pegram Church of Christ Senior Minister Jason Allison helped to organize a dinner at the church last week for survivors of the Dec. 11 tornado.SHARON ALICE LURIE
“Sometimes we have to meet the physical needs before we can meet the spiritual needs, because that’s what Jesus did,” Webb said.
Pegram Church of Christ Senior Minister Jason Allison said he was happy to host the Christmas dinner. Allison, who has also been out in the community distributing supplies to those performing cleanup in the area, sees how overwhelmed those affected by the storms have been and wants them to know they are not alone.
“When you have this kind of life change and are trying to live in the moment, we want to encourage and assure folks that we’re here in the short term, but also in the long run, as neighbors, as churches, and as friends,” Allison said.
Vick said that just being present for those who are suffering right now, along with provision of a meal or cleaning supplies, goes a long way. Vick recalled, “One woman came in and said, ‘Your hugs are what I needed the most.’ We just need to listen.”
Wanda Yates (left) and her husband, Jerry, attended a tornado survivors dinner last week at Pegram Church of Christ.SHARON ALICE LURIE
For the survivors present at Wednesday evenings dinner, they felt heard, and they felt loved.
Chuck Stuart, whose roof was damaged in the storms, said he will have to at least six months before he can move back into his home. He said how great it felt to see so many in the community reach out to him to help through things like the survivors’ Christmas dinner.
Jerry and Wanda Yates lost their home and both of their vehicles in the tornado. Upon seeing her bed covered with 2×4 pieces of wood, she said she knew if she’d not gotten to her basement when she did, she wouldn’t have survived.
Wanda spoke of the care shown to her family and her the next day when so many brought food, showed up with heavy equipment, and offered to help her family with cleanup.
“It’s a tight-knit community. It’s the only explanation I know. It just brings you closer. Everyone is just, ‘What can we do and how can we help?’” Wanda said.
(Left to right) Belinda Webb, Virgie Wright, Judy Shockley, Sarah Thorpe, and Jayne Hall were some of the volunteers to help prepare and serve a Christmas Dinner for tornado survivors last week. All of them except Hall are members of Charlotte Heights Church of Christ, which co-hosted the dinner at Pegram Church of Christ. Hall is a Pegram resident and a member of Cross Point Bellevue church.SHARON ALICE LURIE
• Call the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency’s Crisis Cleanup Line at 800-451-1954 to request assistance with cleaning up from the storms.
• The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee is accepting donations for its Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund to help provide relief and recovery assistance to all affected Middle Tennessee communities. Donations can be made a .
• Generator safety: dicksonelectric.com/customer-generation/