ORANGE, Texas — Editor's note: The video above originally aired on Aug. 27.
Residents of Orange, Texas will never forget the volunteers who showed up after Hurricane Laura to help them take the first steps on the road to recovery.
And now, they have a visual reminder in the form of a cross carved from a tree downed by the category 4 hurricane.
Rocky Mize, an Orange resident and volunteer with the Texas Baptist Men, carved the cross after helping The Salvation Army clear fallen trees from a church playground.
Mize and other members of TBM showed up to volunteer after seeing a news report about all the things Salvation Army volunteers were doing to help the community.
"Watching that interview and knowing what The Salvation Army does to help people in need, I knew that we had to do something,” said Mize. “I got in touch with my crew and we agreed to start our day on Friday at The Salvation Army and get their property and playground cleaned up. They are the hands and feet of Jesus to so many, and we were blessed to be that for them.”
RELATED: More Hurricane Laura coverage
“The Texas Baptist Men showed up with their chainsaws and got right to work,” said Jan Zuniga, Commanding Officer at The Salvation Army in Orange. “In no time at all the fallen trees were gone and the whole place was cleaned up. In a beautiful gesture, Rocky carved a cross into the stump of a tree that had come down in the storm. This cross will remain as a constant reminder of God’s love and providential care for us.”
Texas Baptist Men, a group based in Dallas since its founding in 1967, trains disaster relief groups in all 50 states. It’s become the nation’s third largest disaster relief network in the U.S.
The Salvation Army has worked tirelessly to provide meals and water to Hurricane Laura victims in the Orange area.
Since Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana on Aug. 27, The Salvation Army has served 91,891 meals, 60,580 drinks and 32,195 snacks in affected communities.
Eight mobile kitchens from The Salvation Army in Texas also continue to provide meals in Lake Charles, LA.
If you’d like to support the Salvation Army’s disaster work, you can donate here or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY.
WATCH: Hurricane Laura coverage