Local nonprofit delivers hurricane relief supplies to Bahamas

Posted

Jimbo Stockton is the founder of local nonprofit Adventures in God’s Creations, a ministry that provides emergency assistance to those in crisis situations. When Hurricane Dorian drilled the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas Sept. 1, Stockton didn’t think twice about helping. Stockton called volunteers from his ministry and he and his Island Crisis Flyers team flew to the islands to deliver not only supplies, but also hope. 

 “Island Crisis Flyers is part of Adventures in God’s Creation ministry,” Stockton said. “It’s a sub ministry. We’re a bunch of volunteers that are trying to help the Bahamian people right now in the middle of this crisis.”

Stockton called ministry volunteer and Ponte Vedra local, Marzena Mignone, to help collect supplies that could be delivered to the islands. Mignone immediately rented a U-Haul truck and posted on Facebook that she was going to be at the Winn-Dixie shopping center accepting donations, not realizing she’d be flooded with responses the next day.

“It was just crazy. I woke up the next morning and I had 350 people share my post,” she said. “I had never driven a 26-foot truck before, but I definitely have now.”

Mignone started with one U-Haul truck to fill, but after the first day, she ended up with five.

“She’s done a fantastic job,” Stockton said. “She’s been down on many mission trips, seen the smiles of the children’s faces, supporting the Haitian village they call The Mudd. It’s right in the middle of Marsh Harbour that got annihilated and is where the primary death toll is. Marzena has seen the people up close and personal and she just has a big heart to help.”

Stockton is looking for another volunteer to rent and fill one more U-Haul at the Seawalk Hotel in Jacksonville Beach and transport it to Stuart Jet Center in Stuart, Florida, the ministry’s base for shipping supplies to the islands.  

“This catastrophe is beyond imaginable and it’s a whole new level of destruction down there,” Stockton described the Abaco Islands after making a trip there to deliver supplies over the weekend. “Everybody’s shell shocked. They’ve gone through a nightmare, but there’s resilience, where they want to see rebuilding take place.”

For Stockton and many of the volunteers in Adventures in God’s Creation, Hurricane Dorian hit too close to home — literally. For many, the Abaco Islands are a “bedroom community” of Jacksonville and Ponte Vedra, as Stockton put it. “Many people come down to here and that’s the reason I think it’s resonating so much with so many people of Northeast Florida,” he said. “We just thank them so much for their hearts and generosity to help the Bahamian people in their time of need.”

 

To volunteer or donate to hurricane relief in the Bahamas, visit www.adventuresingodscreation.org.