By Mark Maynard
Kentucky Today
When the trailer trucks with the NKBA logos on the side roll onto the People’s Building lot with another load of furniture and other odds and ends, Donna Roark can hardly contain her excitement. She may even be seen jumping up and down in pure joy.
“It’s like Christmas,” said Roark, who operates the People’s Building that has been giving away furniture and other items to flood survivors since last summer’s catastrophic event in eastern Kentucky. “I get excited because I know whatever is on that truck is something that people here needed or asked for in advance. God is amazing.”
(From left) Donna Daniels, Mike Daniels, Kenny Daniels and Sam Bern in Hindman after delivering another load of furniture to be given to those flood survivors in need. (Photo from Kentucky Today)
Roark considers Mike and Donna Daniels, who have taken 48 trailer loads of furniture and other items since last October, as her angels. The 48 loads represent about 30 trips (or more) from a place that’s 200 miles each way. It has become a ministry for the couple who are members of Piner Baptist Church in Northern Kentucky. They have met the needs of many who are in desperate need of help.
“He has a servant’s heart,” said Piner Baptist Pastor Mark Baldauff. “This isn’t the only thing he’s done but this has such a Kentucky ring to it. God has a special place for him in heaven that’s a lot higher than mine. He’s a persistent worker. I love him and I’m amazed by him and his wife.”
Mike is 70 years old and a retired truck driver, so the driving doesn’t bother him. He doesn’t do the loading or unloading, relying on “Mission Muscle” teams from Piner Baptist and from young men in Hindman to do the grunt work.
“It takes them about 15 minutes to unload a truck,” Mike’s wife said, with her husband interjecting, “but it’s a lot tougher to load a truck than to unload it.”
His wife said Mike loads trucks like a giant jigsaw puzzle with absolutely zero space remaining when he’s done. Mike directs the workers where to put items, then shuffles when necessary to make sure everything fits. So these truckloads are filled from top to bottom.
But it has put out flyers and word-of-mouth keeps filling the trailers and has kept him on the highway as people continue to donate furniture and everything else. They have taken pots and pans, dinette China dishes, silverware and inside doors – almost anything goes except for clothes.
He has borrowed trailers from the Northern Kentucky Baptist Association, which has also provided him with money for gas.
“We couldn’t do it without the NKBA helping because we couldn’t afford the fuel,” he said. “We tried to go through the association down there, but they were so busy. The Lord directed us to Donna and Jack (her husband). Hindman wasn’t getting any help from anybody. It was like the forgotten sleepy little community in the mountains. This was a way to get stuff into the hands of the people. It was easier for us to bring it to them, and they can distribute it a little at a time.”
The transported items only go to people who are really in need of them, Roark said. She keeps track of who is getting what. But many families were completely wiped out from the flood that destroyed thousands of homes nearly a year ago. One family’s entire home came from items that Daniels brought to the People’s Building.
Mike Daniels (left) with some “mission muscle” in Hindman to unload his trailers. (Photo from Kentucky Today)
Roark said everything that comes to the from the Daniels is “very nice stuff and in many cases better than the people had before the flood.”
Hindman has been the forgotten city when it comes to help from government officials, she said. “Millions and billions donated and Hindman never got any of it. This is people helping people. We are thankful for the people in northern Kentucky for the heart they have. There are still good people in the world.”
Roark said her faith has been strengthened by what happened through the Daniels. “My faith has always been strong but that has been amazing. I could tell you story after story. It’s nobody but God.”
Immediately after the flooding last July, Roark set up a a tent shelter in her yard with small household items she and her husband purchased like toasters, coffee pots, dishes and silverware.
“I wasn’t getting much help and I prayed for God to send me somebody who will help me hep these people,” she said.
Daniels had found himself with a house full of furniture from an estate sale from his daughter-in-law’s stepmother, who was from eastern Kentucky. They began looking for a place to take it. He called Disaster Relief at the Kentucky Baptist Convention and was given a contact of someone in Hazard. That eventually led to the People’s Building and Donna Roark where they have since cultivated a nice relationship and friendship.
“Donna is pretty savvy,” Donna Daniels said. “She connects everybody but keeps a running list of who needs what. She will say, ‘I have people that need rugs.’ We ended up with 15-20 nice area rugs. Another time she said they needed interior doors. Mike went to the Restore and was going to buy used doors. They gave him 10 doors. That load of doors went down.”
His flyers have circulated so much in northern Kentucky that the Daniels receive calls almost daily from someone who has a couch, chairs or other furniture they would like to donate. It has been a steady flow for months and seemingly has no end.
“They cannot afford to replace what they lost in the flood,” Donna Daniels said. “Curtains, tables and chairs, anything you might use in the house, other than clothing. We’ve taken pictures, mirrors, pots and pans, dishes, coffee mugs, and whole sets of China.”
When Mike delivers a load of items, he makes sure to pray with them as well, his wife said. He’s a Christian leader in the church and the community with a heart for serving. Mike said this ministry is no different than any other ministry he may be affiliated with.
Mike said he was familiar with their situation in eastern Kentucky because he had worked in flooded-out churches in areas where Katrina struck in New Orleans. His basic philosophy comes from Romans 12 in doing “reasonable service as a Christian.” He considers what he does for the Lord that reasonable service.
“The man is humble,” said his pastor. “He’s a shade-tree mechanic who repairs cars of widows and people in need, most of the time for just what he paid for parts. The guy is just a servant through and through. His wife, too. It’s a precious couple.”
If anyone has furniture or other items to give toward the cause in Hindman, call Mike at 859-630-5828.
