DUNEDIN, Fla. — As people rebuild after Thursday's tornadoes, a church in Dunedin is recovering from two disasters.
Every year, Coastal Christian Church sets up their pumpkin patch.
Corrie Hacking is the Youth Program Coordinator for the church. The pumpkin patch is about more than having some fall fun.
"[It] raises funds for our youth programs. It's a huge fundraiser and really great photo opportunity," she said.
But the church never expected to have to build it twice this year.
Thursday's tornado swirled through the church's pumpkin patch, knocking down fencing decorations and crushing pumpkins.
"We have a great community at our church. The volunteers stepped up immediately. Everyone in the church is always involved in everything. We are truly a family Community Church. We don't just show up on Sundays and then say we'll see you again in a week," Hacking said.
Volunteers trickled in on Friday, ready to help in any way possible.
"We've done this before, unfortunately, but we're good at it," she added.
ABC Action News was there in May when the church caught fire. Its sanctuary and a portion of the adjoining thrift store were destroyed. The fire also impacted a preschool just behind the church.
"It is hard. It's overwhelming. It can be, you know when life throws those things that you just want to crumble, and under the weight of it all," she said.
As volunteers rebuilt the pumpkin patch, construction workers repaired the church.
"Our pastor has focused a lot on the book of Nehemiah and Nehemiah rebuilding the church. And that's been a huge emphasis the last couple of weeks in our church is, you know, the biblical story of Nehemiah rebuilding the wall. And so we kind of use that as our motivation like, all right, they did it, we can do this, we can do this."
Those weekend plans for the pumpkin patch they carved out before the tornado struck will continue.
Sunday service remains in a temporary shelter.
Two disasters in five months aren't slowing down for this group.
