Last day in OK.

Last night we had dinner with some friends at Cheesecake Factory. We met both of these ladies in Honduras on a mission trip. They were my roommates! This year none of us were able to go but it still worked out that we were able to see each other since they both live in the OKC area. Thankfully, they were not directly affected by the storms, but they've each helped out with the relief effort in their own way. It was so great to see them and catch up for a little while! 

This morning was our last morning in OK. On Friday I received an email requesting volunteers at two elementary schools in Moore to sort through donations that would be sent out into the community. The principal of Heritage Trails Elementary emailed me Saturday night asking if we could come there, so there we went! 

We spent the morning getting the clothes and bedding donations separated and  ready for a truck that was coming to pick them up. Then we tackled the food donations and put them in boxes to be picked up. This task was very frustrating because we found that many people had donated opened, and sometimes very expired food. It was clear that some (not all or even a majority) people used this opportunity to clean out their pantries. Now, while I appreciate the notion of giving to others, I think that it is wrong to donate something to someone that you, yourself wouldn't eat or use. But, I guess it's the thought that counts??! Nevertheless, we ended up throwing away a full trash can of this type of food. 

Mathison Brothers, a local furniture store, sent some of their workers to help out, as well. 

After sorting...we toured the school...because isn't that what ALL teachers do when they are in any school building?! :)

Almost back to Little Rock now to debrief and plan another trip back soon, hopefully with our own small team. Because as we learned, this will be an ongoing process for the next several months and there are a million ways to help.

 Thanks for your donations, thoughts, prayers and words of encouragement throughout this process.  Continue to pray for the people of Oklahoma--and any other state that has suffered similar events recently. 

Day 2 in OK

We began our day with a rushed breakfast in our hotel. Rushed because Jason set the alarm for 6:15 PM, and well, yeah... I attempted to make half of a waffle, but ended up with half of a waffle and a skeleton waffle, which really creeped me out.

Today we worked with the disaster response team to gut a house. We met up with the team at Alameda Church and were given two options: 1) gut a house in the city or 2.) cut down trees in the country. We chose option 1...mainly because one of the coordinators assured me that using a sledgehammer would be involved. That and the fact that I probably could only haul sticks from a tree and I most definitely don't trust myself with a chainsaw (I've seen that terrible OSHA video waaaay too many times.) 

The Camaro even got his own magnet, to give us easier access to the area we'd be working in. 

The house was located in Moore in what was considered the "outskirts" of the storm's path. Driving to the house it was hard to believe that...

We arrived to the house where we'd be working...

And got suited up...complete with masks, per the suggestion of the coordinator, other volunteers and more importantly, my mom! :) Very hard to breathe in those, by the way! 

We removed carpet, flooring, Sheetrock (sledgehammer used here), faceplates, etc.  The eeriest thing about this experience was being in a house where people hunkered down probably praying for their lives to be spared and otherwise scared out of their minds. I pulled up trim in a closet where this family most likely sat together. I tried to imagine, but I can't imagine. While tearing out Sheetrock in the kitchen, we discovered this bit of scariness...

Yes, that would be a shingle that flew in through the back door and lodged itself into the wall!!! 

This picture is of part of a kitchen cabinet--covered in dirt/mud and anything else that came in during the storm.

At noon we took a break to go to lunch. There is a crew from Texas A&M providing lunch for workers. But we were too early (So we ended up eating at Qdoba). While walking to the lunch spot we had a chance to get a walking tour of the neighborhood we were working in. I spotted this little guy in a puddle on the ground...

I wonder if his owner is missing him? :(

This is one of the trucks that takes HOUSES to the landfill. Apparently, if you push your house to the curb, they will haul it off for you. It sounded just as odd to type as it was to hear. But the reality is, is that most of these houses are a total loss, and will be bulldozed and pushed to the curb for that truck to take away. 

After lunch, we went back to the HQ at Alameda. The giant group of volunteers is still enroute, so preparation is still taking place. There was a crew cooking dinner for 200, and then there was a crew preparing the sleeping quarters for the group. Jason and I were in that group. We inflated air mattresses and set up 4 different church classrooms to act as "bedrooms" for the volunteers that would be staying there. This is what part of one of the rooms looked like after we were done...

We put 22 beds in this room, and about 70 between the other 3 rooms. When another group (of teens) arrives, they plan to clear out a small chapel of its pews to add more beds. 

Here's a look at the distribution center/"cafeteria" at Alameda.

This side of the room has toiletries, shoes, water, ziplock bags, etc. Directly behind those doors with the yellow paper is one of the rooms where women volunteers sleep. The other side of the room includes things like mood, brooms, shovels, etc. 

The plan was to go back out with the large group to work more, but they were delayed and wouldn't be arriving until 4:30 for one group and 6:00 for the other. So, we've retired for the day and look forward to having dinner with two of our Oklahoma friends that we met first on our mission trips to Honduras. 

Tomorrow our plan is to go and volunteer with the Moore Public School system at an elementary school. Hey, you can make a teacher go on summer break, but you can't keep her out of a school. :)

Day 1 in OK

This morning Jason and I traveled to the OKC area to spend a few days helping with the storm relief effort. We are working with the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Team...they are set up currently at the Alameda Church of Christ in Norman, OK. 

We left Little Rock at 8am (2 hrs past our original plan of 6am--but we were up late after an event packing, so the extra hour of sleep was totally needed.) 

Our first stop in the OKC area was the Central Church of Christ in Moore, OK. This is where we dropped off the donations that many of our friends and family sent with us.

As you know, Moore was one of the hardest hit areas during the May 20th storm. The church is right off of the interstate and is serving as a distribution center where storm victims can come by and pick up supplies (food, clothes, cleaning supplies, etc), get a free meal and even shower. While we were there we got to speak with some of the volunteers and got to see their system for distributing items as families came in to receive assistance. It was honestly a very emotional experience to witness. To know that these people (one lady in her late 70s or older) had had their entire lives changed in a matter of minutes...and they are now relying on the generosity of others to attempt to return to some sense of normalcy. Thank God FOR the generosity of others! The center seems to be running smoothly. The volunteers have done an excellent job of organizing the donations to make it easy for victims to get what they need. 

Driving to the church, we couldn't see much damage. It wasn't until after we left to head to our next destination in Norman, that we could really see the devastation. I didn't get any pictures today because we were on the interstate. 

Our 2nd destination was to check in with the Disaster Relief Team (DRT) at Alameda CoC. We were issued t-shirts...

and immediately got to work on an assignment at the distribution facility (which is actually the church's family life center/gym) which is also serving as housing for out of town volunteer groups. Today the organization had over 100 volunteers go out into work zones for storm clean up. Tomorrow they are expecting 238 volunteers!! So our job was to help reorganize and relocate some of the donations to make space for the new people to have a place to eat tomorrow (the DRT is providing all 3 meals for the volunteers). 

Once we had enough space clear, the teams that had been out in the field all day began to arrive back at the HQ to shower and get ready for dinner. So we left to go to our hotel to rest and eat, as well. 

Tomorrow our day will begin around 8 as we meet back up at HQ for a brief worship service and head out to the field to work for the day. I'm both excited and nervous about what the day holds. I'm excited to be able to be here and help...I'm nervous about how the scenes of the day will make me feel.

Please pray for our efforts, pray for the people who lost everything, and the safety of the volunteers.