The tornado that destroyed 75% of Dawson Springs, Kentucky, on Friday, December 10th at 10:32 p.m., was an “EF-4,” the second most powerful tornado category – the kind that make houses literally explode. Winds hit an incredible 190 m.p.h.! At least 13 lives were lost. This was part of a major outbreak of more than 60 tornadoes in eight states. (Full podcast further below)
Hearing how extensive the damage was in nearby Dawson Springs, Whitney Shaw and her sister-in-law felt God was leading them to help with food. They strategized their budget and bought 30 breakfast biscuits from McDonalds, something “heavy on bread and protein…still decent, when they’re cold” – food that would hold up for a while. They also bought bottled water and granola bars and then carefully weaved their way into the tornado debris zone.
“I know that God blessed me okay. God blessed me safe so that he could use me as my able body and help anybody that I could.”
Their efforts were definitely needed. Major roads were blocked preventing large-scale relief. No feeding centers were set up. And survivors did not have electricity, natural gas, running water. No way to cook… even if they still had a kitchen.
Of course, 30 bacon or sausage biscuits cannot feed a whole town, but Whitney’s personal outreach had a very encouraging effect on people. “We helped one man, we saw him walking on a very busy road, we kind of pulled over to the side and asked how he was doing. We ended up giving him a ride back to his house and turns out they hadn’t eaten since Saturday morning,” 24 hours earlier. The appreciative family was given a good ‘full belly’ meal.
As Whitney traveled, “I looked to my left and looked to my right, and I would see houses – just piled up – on the side of the road,” with peoples’ personal belongings mixed in the rubble. “I had never experienced anything like that in my life!”
So why did Whitney take a risk and go into the tornado damage to help total strangers? “I know that God blessed me okay. God blessed me safe so that he could use me as my able body and help anybody that I could. He blessed me with the means to go and help people. He blessed me with friends that are willing to go out with me – and friends that are just as passionate about helping people as I am.”
In our complete podcast interview below, Whitney shares that people, at first, declined the food offer. But once she understood the real reason people took a pass on free food, she found a way to offer the food that got past the humble hesitation.
You’ll also learn that Whitney’s graduation from Murray State University was cancelled because of the weather outbreak and how, in a sense, she was okay with that because she really wanted to be out helping tornado victims.
By the way, her new degree is in social work, which lines up with what you’ve already read about her heart for God and people. Whitney, a self-described “military brat” has accepted a position at a Kentucky veterans’ center and one day hopes to be a therapist to help active-duty military. We sense God has been prepping her already.
