EDGECOMBE COUNTY — As eastern towns continue to recover from the big flood, faith-based groups continue their effort to help. Tens of thousands of church volunteers have aided in the recovery, but the need for volunteers is still great.

"We're doing the work of the Lord," said Mike Blankenship, a volunteer with the Baptist State Convention. "We just want to be helpful."

For flood victim Joseph Cooper, the volunteers are a Godsend.

"They have helped out in building," Cooper said. "The church groups gave us things that we need in our house."

Workers say skilled volunteers are needed badly now to finish hundreds of jobs. Methodist workers are contracting some of their work, but they still need volunteers and will for the rest of the year.

The groups say that for every four or five unskilled volunteers, they would like to have at least one skilled person to help show the others how to finish jobs.

Specific numbers of volunteers are hard to come by, but the Baptist State Convention says more than 20,000 have helped in their efforts.