This morning starts our busiest and most important week here in Panama City.

We'll serve about 3,500 meals each and every day as we take over a program that is providing hot meals to hundreds of families while expanding our outreach to potentially thousands of needy schoolchildren. This is in addition to providing hot meals for volunteers who are here to help with the cleanup.

And the cleanup job is immense! Massive piles of debris... Homes still covered in tarps... Yards that have never been cleared from the storm.

+ + Diana's story

This is a huge weekend here in Panama City. TODAY we are adding 800 meals, in addition to other distributions. By Monday, Mercy Chefs will be at 2,000+ meals per day as we take over a program that is providing hot meals to hundreds of families while expanding our outreach to potentially thousands of needy schoolchildren -- in addition to our other outreaches here.

+ + Shocking conditions; people "still living in tents"

Local media is covering Mercy Chefs' redeployment to Panama City. Click here or on the image to watch.

As anticipated, we are seeing the need continue to grow here in Alabama as the reality of what just struck slowly settles in and more and more people join in the recovery effort. 

Today, we served a full breakfast and lunch to emergency workers and volunteers. This weekend is critical. Also, the folks here are talking about holding a memorial service next week for the family that lost seven members. Their church is too small, so the venue where Mercy Chefs is based will likely host the reception following the service and, yes, we will be there to provide the meals should this come to pass.

+ + A family's heart-wrenching search through the rubble...

This short video was posted by a volunteer from a local church in Lee County showing the destruction of what used to be a wooded area.

In many areas, the destruction is complete. The next few days are critical in so many ways. Please prayerfully consider how you can help Mercy Chefs provide relief.

Gary LeBlanc filed this report from Lee County, Alabama:

Mercy Chefs ise officially deploying here in Lee County, Alabama -- the very epicenter of the tornado strikes. Our Mercy Chefs mobile kitchen has arrived here in Lee County, along with our chefs and team. That means we will be serving meals TOMORROW -- STARTING WITH BREAKFAST!

Our team will be serving at the heart of the worst tornado damage, providing breakfast and lunch to first responders and volunteer cleanup teams. With schools out due to the storm, we expect to also be providing meals to many kids. As emergency workers and those in the community hear about Mercy Chefs, we expect the demand will grow throughout the week and into the weekend.

+ + "Monster" tornado worst since 2013

Update from Panama City (headed now to Alabama)

Our team arrived yesterday in Panama City for our month-long redeployment and was greeted by sirens and alerts for a tornado warning. As you know, before the day was over, massive tornadoes had ripped through Alabama and Georgia, leaving at least 23 dead and thousands devastated.

+ + Headed to Alabama now!

Calls immediately came for Mercy Chefs to help in Alabama. This morning, I am headed to the epicenter of the tornado strikes and will arrive midday to assess how and where Mercy Chefs can best assist. A Mercy Chefs mobile kitchen is already on the way.

A few weeks ago, we realized that Mercy Chefs was nearing our two-millionth meal served. Quite frankly, the thought was a bit overwhelming for me. And quite humbling.

Consider just how large the number 2,000,000 is...

Two million meals could feed a family of four three meals a day for... 456 years!

Or it would provide dinner for every person in the average sized church in America (about 190 people) every day for... nearly 30 years!

What's mind boggling most of all to me is that I honestly never imagined that Mercy Chefs would have such an impact.

We are just WEEKS from a major milestone in Mercy Chefs' history...

Some time this Spring, Mercy Chefs will serve our TWO-MILLIONTH MEAL! It's really hard to imagine that what started as a dream literally out of my home has grown into what I believe is one of the most effective outreaches in providing quality meals in the aftermath of major disasters and to hurting children and families.

It is quite possible that we will reach this milestone NEXT MONTH during our extended re-deployment to Florida -- what will be our longest and largest re-deployment in Mercy Chefs' history. But to reach this goal, we are going to need the help of every Mercy Chefs friend and partner.