Those who don't want to commute for just one day should consider a stay at Camp St. Mark in Rushford. They have 32 beds, a full kitchen, living room area with television, Internet connections. Run by Lutheran Disaster Relief, they suggest a $20/day donation, will provide you with warm, comfortable, mattressed beds, nice showers (I painted them!), and three square meals a day (a camp cook will come in and prepare your food).
Contact me at 651-208-4353 to inquire aout the camp or register on our website.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
A Busy Day in Rushford
It's been so long since I blogged into this site I couldn't remember the password. In fact, it just occured to me I am a year older than I was last time I entered a blog.
We had a busy day in Rushford today, and met a lot of good brothers and sisters in Christ. I drove down with David Stevens from St. Andrews Mahtomedi. It snowed enough that the grassy areas were white and the shoulder of the road was icy. I was sad to reflect that many people still need help getting their homes enclosed and insulated and that as winter comes there may be days we in the Cities want to help but can't get there.
We met up as planned with Steve Neddermeyer "The Pork Chop Man" from St. Paul Lutheran (I hope I remembered the right saint!) in Watertown, his wife Diane, son Steven, and a group of 10 others from Steve's church or circle of friends. We also met a group from Christ Lutheran in Lake Elmo/Stillwater and still others from Hosanna Lutheran in Lakeville. In all, there were about 60-70 people working through Lutheran Disaster Relief. Don't worry if you didn't join us today but still want to help -- We left PLENTY of work for you to do!
There is every kind of job imaginable right now! A couple of groups were installing vinyl siding, another group was framing an old house that needed a lot of work. The group from Hosanna was removing insulation and nails in a home of a family they have "adopted" -- a young couple with a one-year-old child and another on the way. David worked with them in the morning, shoveling small pieces of sheetrock and insulation beads into a dumpster. The group from Watertown spent the first hour moving furniture for the city newspaper from their temporary quarters back into their downtown building. That's progress and exciting to see! I ran errands and worked with Steve from LDR on organizing work and materials for our crew's next jobs.
We then split into two groups -- the skilled laborers working inside Rushford Mall, where they sheetrocked retail space so service businesses that have been displaced can reopen soon. The rest of us were sent to a 12-unit non-profit owned apartment building for low income seniors that will be demolished. It had been deluged with 6-8 feet of water, and all of the windows had been blown out. Some of the renters had removed what they could, others what they wanted, still others had not been back to their homes at all. Someone had removed all the appliances and furniture, and we had to remove everything that was left.
We got nearly half done cleaning out the housing units -- that's 6 kitchens, 6 bathrooms, 6 bedrooms and 6 living rooms -- and filled an entire dumpster.
A sweet elderly woman stopped by with her brother from LaCrosse to show him where a friend of hers, Alice, had lived, and to tell him (and thereby us) about Alice's adventure. Alice slept through the door-to-door warning as someone knocked on doors to tell people to evacuate. She awoke only when the window in her bedroom broke, flooding her apartment with water. Alice climbed onto her dining room table, but as the water rose, she feared that wouldn't be high enough. She then climbed onto her kitchen countertop and spent the next five hours on her countertop, chest-high in water filled with sewage and debris, waiting for help. Someone finally broke through the roof of the building to rescue her. I can only imagine how frightened she must have been that she would not be found... Her body temperature had dropped to 91 degrees and she spent several days in the hospital. She is now living with a daughter in St. Paul.
Two of the women in our group were working in Alice's apartment when her friend arrived. They had already set aside several "pretty dishes," a few teacups, some ceramic owls (which Alice apparently collected), and her friend carefully packed them up to take to Alice.
I worked in an apartment where I found a recipe box that was nearly dry (but encased in mud). At the back of the box were several cards dated 1976-1981 that listed cows by name, their calves, and their names (although it looks like they stopped naming the calves in 1978), and dates that any of them had died. I also found a photo album with several salvageable pictures. Steven found a framed confirmation certificate from 1915 (a gentleman born in 1902) that we took to the LDR office to see if they could find the original owner. Many reminders how years of treasured, very personal "stuff" can be destroyed in an instant. One of the women in the group said she wanted to go home and clean out all her closets and give most of her "stuff" away!
We were stinking (from the mold/sewage/mud/sludge) mix in the apartments. Stinging noses (really loved that crockpot full of beef!), wet feet, and the dark and cold in the building forced an early end to our day (about 3:15). We had a quick prayer at the worksite for the blessing of being called to serve, for the lives of those who had lived in the apartments, for recovery for the town, for safe travel for the team and for blessings for all who worked before and behind us. After a brief tour of Camp St. Mark (a beautiful facility; see my next blog for more on the camp), David and I headed for home.
Thanks to Steve for organizing his group, and to Steve and Diane for making sandwiches and cookies for the whole bunch. It was a good day, and I was blessed to get to work with such a great bunch of people!
We had a busy day in Rushford today, and met a lot of good brothers and sisters in Christ. I drove down with David Stevens from St. Andrews Mahtomedi. It snowed enough that the grassy areas were white and the shoulder of the road was icy. I was sad to reflect that many people still need help getting their homes enclosed and insulated and that as winter comes there may be days we in the Cities want to help but can't get there.
We met up as planned with Steve Neddermeyer "The Pork Chop Man" from St. Paul Lutheran (I hope I remembered the right saint!) in Watertown, his wife Diane, son Steven, and a group of 10 others from Steve's church or circle of friends. We also met a group from Christ Lutheran in Lake Elmo/Stillwater and still others from Hosanna Lutheran in Lakeville. In all, there were about 60-70 people working through Lutheran Disaster Relief. Don't worry if you didn't join us today but still want to help -- We left PLENTY of work for you to do!
There is every kind of job imaginable right now! A couple of groups were installing vinyl siding, another group was framing an old house that needed a lot of work. The group from Hosanna was removing insulation and nails in a home of a family they have "adopted" -- a young couple with a one-year-old child and another on the way. David worked with them in the morning, shoveling small pieces of sheetrock and insulation beads into a dumpster. The group from Watertown spent the first hour moving furniture for the city newspaper from their temporary quarters back into their downtown building. That's progress and exciting to see! I ran errands and worked with Steve from LDR on organizing work and materials for our crew's next jobs.
We then split into two groups -- the skilled laborers working inside Rushford Mall, where they sheetrocked retail space so service businesses that have been displaced can reopen soon. The rest of us were sent to a 12-unit non-profit owned apartment building for low income seniors that will be demolished. It had been deluged with 6-8 feet of water, and all of the windows had been blown out. Some of the renters had removed what they could, others what they wanted, still others had not been back to their homes at all. Someone had removed all the appliances and furniture, and we had to remove everything that was left.
We got nearly half done cleaning out the housing units -- that's 6 kitchens, 6 bathrooms, 6 bedrooms and 6 living rooms -- and filled an entire dumpster.
A sweet elderly woman stopped by with her brother from LaCrosse to show him where a friend of hers, Alice, had lived, and to tell him (and thereby us) about Alice's adventure. Alice slept through the door-to-door warning as someone knocked on doors to tell people to evacuate. She awoke only when the window in her bedroom broke, flooding her apartment with water. Alice climbed onto her dining room table, but as the water rose, she feared that wouldn't be high enough. She then climbed onto her kitchen countertop and spent the next five hours on her countertop, chest-high in water filled with sewage and debris, waiting for help. Someone finally broke through the roof of the building to rescue her. I can only imagine how frightened she must have been that she would not be found... Her body temperature had dropped to 91 degrees and she spent several days in the hospital. She is now living with a daughter in St. Paul.
Two of the women in our group were working in Alice's apartment when her friend arrived. They had already set aside several "pretty dishes," a few teacups, some ceramic owls (which Alice apparently collected), and her friend carefully packed them up to take to Alice.
I worked in an apartment where I found a recipe box that was nearly dry (but encased in mud). At the back of the box were several cards dated 1976-1981 that listed cows by name, their calves, and their names (although it looks like they stopped naming the calves in 1978), and dates that any of them had died. I also found a photo album with several salvageable pictures. Steven found a framed confirmation certificate from 1915 (a gentleman born in 1902) that we took to the LDR office to see if they could find the original owner. Many reminders how years of treasured, very personal "stuff" can be destroyed in an instant. One of the women in the group said she wanted to go home and clean out all her closets and give most of her "stuff" away!
We were stinking (from the mold/sewage/mud/sludge) mix in the apartments. Stinging noses (really loved that crockpot full of beef!), wet feet, and the dark and cold in the building forced an early end to our day (about 3:15). We had a quick prayer at the worksite for the blessing of being called to serve, for the lives of those who had lived in the apartments, for recovery for the town, for safe travel for the team and for blessings for all who worked before and behind us. After a brief tour of Camp St. Mark (a beautiful facility; see my next blog for more on the camp), David and I headed for home.
Thanks to Steve for organizing his group, and to Steve and Diane for making sandwiches and cookies for the whole bunch. It was a good day, and I was blessed to get to work with such a great bunch of people!
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