Intro: So we're off again…too cold to stay home and adventure calls. As always, I will NOT be editing. I write these updates mostly so I can record our daily happenings so they don't get lost in my fading memory. I send them to you so you can trash them, skim them or maybe they'll make you smile. Please let me know if you'd prefer not to get the updates and I'll remove your name and it will not hurt my feelings!! Really!
Jan 8
We took off around 9 heading for Gibsonia to see Jake's family. David had a wrestling meet so we made it in plenty of time to see him work out with his team and then congratulate him on his wrestling. Elin, Tim, (her boyfriend )and the rest of the family waited for us to get home to celebrate Elin's 18th birthday. Can't imagine she's that old already. Next night, Elin & I cooked a Thai dinner and Addie made a scrumptious coffee cake. Mmm. Next morning, Sarah took us to the airport where we caught a flight to Savannah, GA. Since Hurricane Helene had caused so much destruction last October, we decided to do most our volunteer work here in the States. Back in November, we tried to sign up to help with All Hands & Hearts working in N. Caroline. They had too many volunteers already. We tried Red Cross. Same story. We tried Samaritan Purse. Same story. I remembered a friend we'd met while working with All H & H had started a disaster relief group, Inspiritus & sent a message to her. She immediately called me up & said, we need you in Georgia! They are not getting much help. She even offered to fly us there (using a non-profit that collects donated miles). So off we went. For 10 days stayed at an United Methodist church camp in a bunk house. We were asked to do assessments which meant we drove all over, meeting homeowners & assessing their damage. Then we wrote up a report which was turned over to the people doing the work. We met about 60 people who were very glad to see us! We were thanked & blessed over and over. Humbling. So we agreed to join Inspiritus again after the holidays. So here we are again in Georgia…Savannah. We are staying in an United Methodist church's community hall. We have our air mattresses set up in the room where brides dress. Not bad! Zach is the project manager and Bill (a pilot) is the only other volunteer!! They have chain saws & a skid loader. While they work, Rog & I use an app that list all the people who have applied for help. Total for the entire area hit by Helene is over 50,000. Rog zeros in on an area close to us, we call them to set up a meeting and after we get about 8, off we go to assess the damage & write a report. If it's small job, we do it. It feels so good to change a red dot to a green dot!
Sunday morning is not a good time for reaching people…but a good time to go to church. This UM church service is very much like our home church in the 1960's. They also had to vote about disaffiliation…and stayed UM by 1 vote. About 40% left so there were only about 50 people at the service. Sad. They have great facilities here but $$ is tight. After church, I made soup and then we made more phone calls & off to do more assessments. Monday we woke to rain. We already have lots of jobs lined up so it was a good day to do some grocery shopping, cleaning (I think the janitor isn't working) and made lasagna. Bill left so Zach is catching up on paper work and trying to line up more volunteers. I'll be calling around tomorrow to see if I can find some local volunteers.
