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Locals Head to Hurricane-Ravaged Areas to Lend a Hand – Couple feels “blessed” to have been able to help hurricane victims

   Written by on September 21, 2017 at 10:24 am

By Brian Nowlin, Editor, Lunenburg Insider

Front-Couple feels blessed-1 Front-Couple feels blessed 3 Front-Couple feels blessed 2The recent hurricanes that have devastated Texas and Florida left millions of people with damage to their homes and towns and suffering the loss of lives and possessions. In some of the worst scenarios, human compassion and the need and desire to help people shines through. This was the case in recent weeks when people from all of the United States have traveled to, shipped supplies and donated to the people in Texas and Florida.
The number of people that have stepped up to help the victims of these hurricanes is amazing. One area husband and wife who traveled to help recently are Jonathan and Melissa Chumney.

Jonathan is from Lunenburg and now lives in the Clarksville area with his wife. The duo traveled to Texas as part of a trip organized by Dylan Stembridge and funded by VETS Inc. and the Lake Country SPCA.

While helping out the people and families in the area as well, Jonathan and Melissa had a unique rescue work experience as they helped rescue many of the animals and family pets that were also caught in the massive storm.

After driving down to the Orange, Texas area on the first day, the couple immediately helped rescue three dogs, a rabbit, and a pig from a house that had flooded and the family was evacuated. They were able to get in touch with the family who owned the animals and take them the pets to a location that had agreed to care for them.

The husband and wife then were called for a water rescue of an elderly man in a neighborhood that was completely under water. They located the man standing on his roof. Melissa said that he had two dogs, a cat, and two chinchillas with him. After meeting this man, who was a former member of the United States Navy, he actually joined them in their work.

She stated, “It has been awesome to see people from all over come together with law enforcement and other agencies to get these people and animals out.”

Following three days of work in Texas, Melissa offered the following thoughts. “There are truly no words to explain the past three days. We have met some of the most amazing people, ever! High on that list are these Texas State Troopers. They were sent here for an undetermined amount of time from other parts of TX. We met these guys the first day and have shared laughs (and water) with them at some point each day. If people could always show this level of compassion and gratitude, our country would be a much better place!”

She said that she felt that she and Jonathan were the ones “blessed to have been a part of it.”

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