Oakwood University Church Hosts Water Bottle Donation Drive for Texas

By: Kimberly Luste Maran, North American Division News

In response to the recent winter weather disaster in Texas, United States, the Oakwood University Church (OUC) and Breath of Life television ministry conducted a “water drive,” collecting more than 30,000 bottles of water as well as other essential items, including socks, undergarments, gently used clothing, feminine products, and cleaning supplies. The items traveled by truck on February 22, 2021, from Huntsville, Alabama, to the Houston, Texas area.

The donated items were delivered to the World Harvest Seventh-day Adventist Church, a distribution site in Houston — and a church where Carlton P. Byrd, current OUC senior pastor and speaker/director of Breath of Life, previously served as pastor. From there, the much-needed water was given to Houston residents, beginning at noon the following day. “This will be the first of several trips we will make with supplies to Houston,” Byrd said. “Our brothers and sisters in Texas have gone through so much with the cold weather and winter storms. We wanted to help, and clean water is an essential commodity that we must have, which many residents don’t have access to at present.”Millions of Texas residents were dealing with the aftermath of severe winter weather in the form of snow and frigid temperatures that engulfed the region. As many as four million Texans lost power for several days, and rolling blackouts in some areas continued after the cold weather ended. The combination of losing electricity and access to heat and subsequently water — due to frozen and burst pipes and failures at water treatment plants — have left many in dire straits as they continue their struggle to survive.

OUC leaders said they are planning to continue to collect donations and planning additional trips to Texas.

The original version of this story was posted on the North American Division news site.