Earlier this week, a group of Opp men provided something flood victims Louisiana don’t see much of these days: weekday volunteer labor.

Opp First Baptist Church pastor Randy Breedlove said a group had talked informally about helping before the church reached out directly to a Baptist missions group working in Baton Rouge.

“We said, ‘Look what’s your greatest need,’ and ‘What does it look like with teams.’

“They answered that they needed people on the ground and donations,” Breedlove said. “We told our church and we targeted a couple of tangible needs – bottled water and toilet paper.”

From there, the church learned that a number of churches are hosting relief teams.

“They have a really, really organized system through the Baptist Association,” Breedlove said.

The organization takes request for help daily, then pairs teams with those in need. The group of 11 men from Opp were assigned to help a 73-year-old man whose home was flooded. He lived out of the flood zone had no flood insurance. All of the interior of his home was lost.

Volunteers before this group had begun putting the man’s belongings on the street and tearing out sheetrock and flooring. This group completed that work, also removing nails so that once the structure is dry, new sheetrock can be installed.

“The little street we were on had about 12 homes flooded,” Breedlove said. “The houses behind and in front of them didn’t flood. They were just in a low-lying area.”

Tre Burgess, who was among the volunteers on the trip, described the neighborhood as middle class.

“Everybody lost everything inside the houses,” Burgess said. “There were hills of furniture and belongings on the street.”

Burgess said he went with the group because he’s felt guilty ever since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“I felt bad that I never went and helped with that,” he said. “So I made up my mind if another opportunity came, I was going to help. Lo and behold, the Lord worked out my schedule, and some things moved around.”

The volunteers were housed at Woodlawn Baptist Church’s family life center. They left Opp about 6 Monday morning and began working early Monday afternoon. They slept on cots at the church. They returned to the same house early on Tuesday, worked until about 2, then showered and drove home.

“They get a lot of volunteers on weekends,” Breedlove said. “But most of the people on our group are involved with ballgames, so it’s hard for them to get away then.”

The group plans to return.

“We really have focused on this guy,” Breedlove said. “My desire was, I wanted to partner with the 25 churches in the association that have been displaced. But everybody on the team sensed that this guy should be our focus.”

“We could still be doing this in March,” he said.

“Everybody can do something to help,” Breedlove said. “Someone with a broom would have been valuable on our team.”

Others traveling with the group were Eddie Gooden, Larry Pressley, Joe Prior, Jeff Birge, Ronnie Sansom, Jack Whigham, Jimmy Reeves, Bill Lindsey and Dennis Murphy.

Meanwhile, the church is collecting money to help flood victims. Donations can be sent to First Baptist at 110 East Hart Ave., Opp. Alternately, they can be sent to Woodlawn Baptist Church, 5805 Jones Creek Rd, Baton Rouge, LA 70817.