By Joseph Edgerton
Staff Writer

Survivors of natural disasters know that they can count on the goodwill of certain agencies created for their relief; the American Red Cross and FEMA, to name a couple.

But many New Hampshire residents are unaware of a nonprofit organization known as the Baptist Convention for Disaster Relief based in Pembroke.

Jack T. Ward, Jr., is the New Hampshire coordinator of the organization, which was founded in the 1950s.

"We have 20 members in New Hampshire, and 70 in New England," he said. "Our mission is serving Christ in the crisis."

The convention's main goal is to dispatch specialists to disaster sites to provide physical and psychological aid to rescuers and victims.

"We have all sorts of special units to aid at a scene," said Ward. "We have food units, shower units, mud-out units, laundry units and day care units."

Ward said "mud-out" units are most popular in the spring, during flood season.

"We'll show up to remove damaged property from houses, and to clean up flooded basements," he said. "Our effectiveness is based on the severity of the flood; we might be able to clean out four or five houses a day."

He added that the responders had perhaps made the biggest impact in Florida, during the hurricane season of 2004.

"There was all sorts of damage there," he said. "We had 48 units in the area; some were from New Hampshire, and others were with the southern chapters. We managed to minister to survivors and emergency personnel, too."

The convention also lent its assistance during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Roughly 15 specialists from New Hampshire aided in cleaning up the damage in apartments surrounding ground zero.

"We were mainly in charge of aftermath cleanup," said Ward. "The carnage there was pretty awful."

Members of the convention work closely with more wellknown disaster response agencies, Ward said.

"The Red cross provides the food, and we cook and serve it," he said. "Our mobile kitchens can serve 4,000 to 5,000 people a day, and our shower units can take care of 600 to 1,000 people daily."

A former firefighter and EMT for four years in Kissimee Heights, Fla., Ward said despite the difficulty of the job, it certainly has its rewards. Some are far more tangible than others.

"I like meeting people and doing God's work the best," he said. "It's a wonderful thing to see their facial expressions when they see us coming. They know we're there to help them."

One of Ward's goals for the organization is to recruit more members and increase public knowledge of their efforts.

"Up until last year, the Red Cross didn't know this (New Hampshire) chapter existed," he said. "We ask that our members be of the Baptist faith, but we are always looking for volunteers."