Monterey Lions Club Disaster Response Team

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The Monterey Lions Club Disaster Response Team was formed on February 5, 2008, following the massive tornado which struck Lafayette, TN. Team founder, Ken Hall, worked for the State of Tennessee at the time and rounded up 76 state employees willing to donate their time to help clean up the devastated area. Hall sought two of his friends from the Monterey Lions Club, Roy Dishman and Buddy Anderson, to help as supervisors for the volunteers and this was the beginning of the disaster team. The main team is now made up primarily of five volunteers over the age of 65. These five “seniors” are the first responders and head up local volunteers when the team responds to an area to help. The team carries the equipment needed and the expertise to assist local volunteers in their clean up efforts.

Since that humble beginning in 2008, the team has responded to 89 calls for help including searches for missing children, fires, floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes. The team now has three disaster trailers, a rescue boat and a tractor. Team members use their personal vehicles to respond and when funds are not available, team members sleep in their vehicles and pay for their own meals and gasoline.

The team has responded as far west as a tornado in Pilger, Nebraska (2014), as far south as Puerto Rico for hurricane Maria (2017) and as far east as North Charleston, NC, for Hurricane Florence (2018). The team has traveled as far north as Washington, Indiana, for a tornado (2013). Locally, the team was summoned to help a nursing home which had lost its kitchen to a major water line break. The team was able to locate a portable kitchen which supplied meals for the residents for an entire month while the water lines were replaced. The team has assisted in locating and supplying elders with furniture and helped elders move from their homes to assisted living. Of the 81 disaster responses and request for help the team has worked, 23 have been in our own Putnam County.

In 2018, two of the team members became certified through the State of Tennessee Department of Agriculture to rescue animals affected by disasters and have rescued many dogs, cats and even two horses. One of the team’s trailers is dedicated to animal rescue and is equipped with blankets, food, animal toys, collars, leashes and first aid supplies.

The team takes pride in its quick response time to disasters and is usually on site within 12 to 24 hours of the call for help. During the recent Cookeville tornado (2020), the team was at ground zero within one hour of the tornado touching down. The main function of the team is as a chainsaw crew and working to clear roads for emergency vehicles.

Unlike many other disaster teams, there are no salaries paid to any of our volunteers. All donations are used to help others in their time of need. The Monterey Lions Club Disaster Response Team is a 501-C-3 organization and all donations are tax deductible.

The work the team does is strenuous and is welcomed by the people they help, but more than the physical labor, when the victims see “TENNESSEE” on the side of the trailers, it always results in hugs and tears. The emotional support the team gives far outweighs the physical labor. The Monterey Lions Club Disaster Response Team is always in need of volunteers, donations and prayers. Please take a minute and help this team in its quest to ease the suffering of those affected by disasters.

Isaiah 6:8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”