photo by: Derek Redd

Members of Fourth Street United Methodist Church present a $10,000 donation to the Rev. Neil Leftwich, the Northern District superintendent for the United Methodist Church’s West Virginia Conference, to benefit Ohio County flood victims. Pictured are, from left, James Watson, Michele Watson, Leftwich, the Rev. Gary Rankin, pastor of Fourth Street United Methodist, Christine Watson and Linda Miller.

WHEELING — Fourth Street United Methodist Church in Wheeling decided that its good fortune should be put to work helping its neighbors still rebuilding from the deadly June 14 floods throughout Ohio County.

The church announced Tuesday that it has donated $10,000 to the United Methodist Church to help with flood recovery. The Rev. Gary Rankin, pastor of Fourth Street, and members of the board of trustees presented the check Tuesday to the Rev. Neil Leftwich, the Northern District superintendent for the United Methodist Church’s West Virginia Conference.

Rankin said the donation came from money the church had in its accounts and wanted to use to help flood victims in the county. On June 14, flash floods ripped through Valley Grove, Triadelphia and parts of Elm Grove and Woodsdale, destroying dozens of homes and killing nine people.

The church decided about a week after the floods hit to make the donation.

“It’s been in every church’s heart and mind that they need to do something,” Rankin said. “There’s so much help needed out there.”

Rankin said that, in his early years as a pastor, he served the Triadelphia community. There are many people he knows that still live out there and he knows the level of destruction the floods caused, as well as the level of help the community needs because of that.

Leftwich said these funds will be put to good use for people who really need the help right now.

“It’s going to support those who are flood survivors, those who are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives and those who really don’t have any pieces to pick up right now,” he said. “We’re trying to offer them, not only financial support, but also a reminder that they’re not alone, that we’re in this together.”

The donation was not Fourth Street’s first offer of help to flood-affected neighborhoods. The church’s food pantry, which feeds many in need in the downtown Wheeling area, packed up an entire truckload of items to deliver to flooded areas.

Rankin said that his history with the area makes it even more important to help however his church can.

“I know those people and I know the area,” he said. “It’s just heartbreaking to see what so many people lost and the lives that were lost. That was really trying for me.”

Yet with those funds, Leftwich said, Fourth Street United Methodist Church has provided yet another important helping hand for their neighbors in need.

“It’s a place that really, really is very much about hope,” Leftwich said, “and being able to share that hope and remind others through their generosity and their giving that God is present.”