Scientology Volunteer Ministers’ Help for Tornado Victims

How the community responded when a series of freak twisters descended on Music City in early March

The Churches of Scientology Disaster Response worked alongside hundreds of volunteers from churches, neighborhood groups and community organizations to provide help and relief to those affected by the Nashville tornadoes that ripped through the city early in the morning of March 3, 2020.

 

The storm, which struck in the dark early that Tuesday morning, left a path of destruction across four counties.

Utility crews worked to repair more than 600 downed poles and restore power to almost 50,000 Nashville residents. Many survivors were left wondering how to rebuild homes, businesses and schools that were damaged or destroyed. Communities turned out to help the injured and those left homeless—and to simply share their grief.

As early as Tuesday morning March 3, help started arriving. Some 20,000 signed up to volunteer through Hands on Nashville and began working to rebuild ravaged neighborhoods. 

Although it was important to heed Metro’s call to stay out of damaged areas, neighbors began helping neighbors. And once it was time to start clearing away debris, volunteers assembled en masse in the most devastated areas across the city.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers (VMs) from the Church of Scientology Nashville began in East Nashville, clearing debris and working with those who most needed help. They went on to Germantown and North Nashville where tornadoes severely damaged several neighborhoods. There, VMs removed approximately 5,000 pounds of debris and helped dozens of people move furniture out of destroyed homes and into moving trucks.

“People are working together, supporting one another, and rebuilding the city one home at a time,” says Julie Brinker, who is coordinating the Church of Scientology Disaster Response teams in Nashville.

The Church of Scientology Volunteers Minister program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. Anyone of any culture or creed may train as a Volunteer Minister and use these tools to help their families and communities. The Church provides free online training on the Volunteer Ministers website.

Watch films based on the tools of the Volunteer Minister on the Scientology Network.