Morristown business donates truck for Disaster Relief work
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
[email protected]
Standing in front of Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief’s newest ministry tool are, from left, David Hawkins, director of missions, Nolachucky Baptist Association; Don Owen, DR director for Nolachucky Association; Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board; Roscoe England, DR volunteer and driver; Doyle Wallace, president of Wallace Hardware in Morristown; and Wes Jones, DR specialist for the TBMB. Wallace Hardware donated the truck to be used for disaster relief ministry.
— Photo by Charles Key, Carson-Newman University
MORRISTOWN — Wallace Hardware in Morristown recently donated a truck to be used for Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief ministry.
The truck was donated to Nolachucky Baptist Association’s disaster relief ministry, which, in turn, donated it to Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief. The truck will be housed at “God’s Warehouse” in Morristown.
Don Owen, disaster relief director for Nolachucky Association, noted that Wallace had allowed DR to use the truck and its trailers for the past three years for numerous trips to areas that have been impacted by hurricanes and other disasters.
Owen related that when Wallace Hardware president Doyle Wallace offered to donate the truck, both the association and TBDR were excited.
“We will utilize and store it here, but it will be available for use all across the state,” Owen said. “This is going to be a valuable asset for us as we pick up and deliver supplies to those who need them,” he added.
Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, agreed.
Wallace Hardware and president Doyle Wallace have been ”very generous for many years to allow Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief to use trucks from its fleet time and time again to carry goods to help people after disasters,” Jones said.
He observed that the gift from Wallace Hardware will allow TBDR to deliver supplies “at a moment’s notice when the need arises.”
Jones added that the gift is not the first investment Wallace Hardware has made in disaster relief efforts across the state.
“Mr. Wallace’s father, John Wallace, through a generous gift, allowed Nolachucky Baptist DR to go on its first trip by supplying fuel for their vehicles,” Jones recalled.
“We are extremely grateful for the way this company has put their faith in action by what they do and how they serve. We are thankful.”
Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB, agreed. He noted that 27 years ago a Wallace Hardware tractor-trailer rig and crew came to Vancleave, Miss., and moved him and his family to Morristown where he would serve as pastor of First Baptist Church for the next nine years.
“Having known the Wallace family for almost three decades, this extremely generous gift is not a surprise,” Davis said.
“I greatly appreciate Wallace Hardware president Doyle Wallace and Nolachucky Baptist Association for making this much needed disaster relief tool a reality,” Davis added.
Wallace said he knew there was a need for the truck and he has a special appreciation for the ministry of disaster relief and how it is organized across the state.
“I am a big fan of what they do and how they help others,” Wallace said.