Day and night since Wednesday, Rabbi and Mrs. Tenenboim of Chabad of the Emerald Coast, have been busy providing essentials to the Panama City area. Hot meals, gas, generators, water – and a warm word.

Throughout the hurricane and as soon as it passed, the Tenenboims kept in close contact with the Jewish people in the area, going name by name making sure everyone was okay. By Thursday they were headed with their 12-year-old daughter to give out supplies to those in the hard-hit areas.

People were touched when receiving the homemade food, saying this was the first warm meal they have had in days. A woman who evacuated to Mississippi contacted Tenenboim as her 12-year-old daughter, a student at Emerald Coast Chabad’s Hebrew school, had stayed behind with her father in the Panama City area, and she had not heard from them. Tenenboim contacted rescuers who had to cut through six miles of broken trees and debris to get to them and found them unhurt but terrified.

A Jewish doctor stayed at the Bay Medical Center with his wife and baby and described chaos and horror as the hurricane heavily damaged the hospital. Tenenboim said they were evacuating the hospital after the storm, and it’s an open miracle no one was hurt.

Though there are areas that are starting to recover and getting back their electricity and water, there are many neighborhoods that have been completely devastated and it will take months for them to get back to normal.

Chabad of the Emerald Coast have been providing them with generators and gas which has changed the quality of lives for those people, who can now have some power back.

The Tenenboims who have been inundated with calls from organizations and individuals worldwide would like to express their awe, amazement and thankfulness at the caring and compassion coming from all over.

For those wishing to help, a fund has been set up.