October 2, 2026
LONDON, Ky. (KT) — As London settles into a post-storm reality, Laurel County Life Center is ministering to those whose lives were upended by the EF-4 tornado that ripped through the southeastern Kentucky community on May 16.
"There are so many people who are just hurting and scared, and it's such an emotional thing to lose absolutely everything you have. And especially when you have children and young children, you're the parent and you're supposed to provide and protect them. Something like this happens that's totally out of your control, and…it's scary," said Olivia Taylor, the pregnancy care center's director. "We want to provide hope for people. We want to support people and we want to show them that they're loved not just by their community, but by Jesus."
Laurel County Life Center is accomplishing that mission by distributing diapers, wipes, car seats, formula, bottles, and other necessary child care items. Several Kentucky Baptist churches have been funneling donations to the pregnancy care center. The support is the fruit of existing partnerships.
"This morning we had such a huge quantity of diapers and wipes and bottles and formula and baby food, just such a surplus that we thought maybe families would contact the Life Center for those items and we wanted to get them into hands that could distribute them," said Kim Gregory, a volunteer with Hart Baptist Church. "In case it was somebody that couldn't get out here or, you know, knew of that facility and knew what they offered, we wanted them to have ample product so that they could meet the need if they had requests for it at their center."
Victory Baptist Church became a donation distribution center after the tornado, and they're holding onto diapers, wipes, and baby clothes until the pregnancy center has the capacity to accept them.
"There will be a lot of babies [taken] care of in Laurel County because of this," said Julie Lovett, a member of Victory Baptist.
Through a partnership with a church in North Carolina, Lick Fork Missionary Baptist received a 16-foot trailer and a full-sized van full of diapers and wipes after flooding in eastern Kentucky. Pastor Gary Kirby has been finding homes for the donations ever since.
"We're going to be supplying the Life Center for quite a while," said Kirby.
AA Women's Center in Corbin also reached out to Laurel County Life Center, offering three infant car seats and a bassinet to fill in the gaps. It was the first time the nearby pregnancy centers had connected.
"We exchanged phone numbers and told [Olivia Taylor] that if there was any need they had…to give us a call and we'd try to help them out with it," said AA Women's Center board chair Cindy Carter.
The community has also rallied to provide the pregnancy center with donations for those in need, including toddler car seats and frozen breast milk.
"It's just amazing to see a community come together and take care of one another," said Taylor. "And I know that that's the love of Jesus compelling people to…give up their time and their energy and be out in the sun all day to help people that they don't even know. It's just good to see people being taken care of."
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This story appeared in Kentucky Today.
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