Flooded out by Florence, family still serves

View The Original Article Here

— A family who volunteers to provide hope and help to the needy learned what’s like on the other side when they lost most of what they had, damaged in Hurricane Florence.

But Allison Cavenaugh is still in place each weekend under the Durham Freeway, working for those with even less.

“It is truly humbling to know there are people who truly have nothing,” Cavenaugh said.

She’s been volunteering with a ministry called Meet Me At The Bridge for about three years. The work always meant a lot to her, but since Hurricane Florence, it means even more.

“I really couldn’t relate to that as much until I was flooded out and lost pretty much everything,” she said.

Hurricane Florence put six feet of water in in the Cavenaugh home in the town of Wallace. The chicken houses at her farm were also flooded out. Even now, Cavenaugh, her husband and two sons live in a home only half repaired.

No one would blame them for stepping back and focusing on themselves. Still, they drive two hours to Durham every week to serve under the bridge.

“I like to give. I like to serve. And just because I am in a bad state, am I not supposed to help someone else,” she said.

Cheryl Smith and her husband, David, are organizers of the ministry.

“The love, the dedication and the diligence they have is over-the-top amazing,” she said of the Cavenaughs.

Florence took a lot away, but Cavenaugh says it also gave her something.

“I really understand better how they feel,” she said of those she serves.

Cavenaugh hopes to have her full house repaired in July.