Pastor Joel Cauley is accustomed to helping people pick up the pieces of their broken lives – but the level of need and grief in Mayfield, KY, has him reeling.
"Just when you think you can catch your breath," the pastor shares, "I had a mama come in today [to say] that they lost their four-year-old little boy, and she said if you've got anything with Paw Patrol – he loved Paw Patrol, and so I want to put some Paw Patrol stuff in his casket."
Cauley says his team scoured their broken part of the world and found some Paw Patrol toys and an outfit and some patches. But the troubles in hurricane alley may just be getting started – there's no shelter, and most people have lost everything, such as coats and blankets.
"It's been so cold, down in the 20s, and so everybody's just cold and freezing; and there's no power; and then we've got rain coming in the next day or so," he explains. "With a lack of generators and heat, people would just freeze – especially the elderly."
Cauley is grateful for all the help that's pouring in from groups like Convoy of Hope, Mercy Chefs, God's Pit Crew, Eight Days of Hope, and many more – but the loss seems overwhelming at times.
"It's a hundred-percent shock right now, and we expect that, probably through the weekend," Cauly shares." It's a tight-knit community, everybody knows everybody and it's just something you would never expect. So, we're seeing a major sense of shock."
And it feels like there's no end in sight, he says. "Man, this is going to be a long road ahead," he laments.
