The Creswell Chronicle: Cresswell, Oregon July 30, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Iowa flood relief mission challenges, inspires teens
Published: July 30, 2008
Armed with big plans, willing hearts and an abundance of youthful energy, 14 teens and their adult chaperones left town on July 12, beginning a 3,000-mile round-trip in an old school bus purchased with donated funds solicited by their Creswell Faith Center youth group.
They returned on July 20 with sore muscles, some sobering but treasured memories and an expanded awareness of the tribulations experienced by victims of large-scale natural disasters.
In between, the group joined relief efforts coordinated by the volunteer-driven organization Hands On Disaster Response, aiding elderly Iowans—most of whom lacked flood insurance—who’d lost nearly everything when 15 feet of water devastated their Cedar Rapids neighborhood in late spring.
In the process, the teens discovered that the drive and determination of people coming together to help others can generate a positive, healing force at least as powerful as those destructive floodwaters.
“I’d never really done anything out of my comfort zone,” said youth group member Katherine Leatherman, explaining her motivation for making the trip. “I wanted to see something to really change my perspective on how people’s lives can be affected by something like this.”
Trevar White, who assisted with Hurricane Katrina cleanup two years ago as a freshman, said he’d enjoyed that experience and “decided this would be fun too.”
“We try to do one big service activity each summer,” explained Faith Center youth group co-leader Jennifer Mitchell. She and her husband and co-leader, Clete, spearheaded the trip and last summer’s 30-hour famine, which raised $1,500 to help feed children in less-developed nations.
Watching reports about the Iowa flooding on The 700 Club one day, “I just felt like God was calling us to Cedar Rapids,” she said. “I threw it out to my husband and asked what he thought. We’d been praying about what to do, and he said, ‘If we can do this, let’s do it.’”
After fundraising plans to sell fireworks fell through, youth group members held car washes and sent out 15 letters each asking for $20 donations. Within three weeks, individuals and businesses, including Sani-Pac, Jerry’s and Springfield Utility Board, contributed about $3,500.
$2,500 purchased the bus the teens christened Lola. Ray’s Food Place donated food for the trip, a church in Clinton, two hours outside Cedar Rapids, offered housing and Hands On agreed to accept the teens as volunteer workers.
“God orchestrated it all, provided for our every need,” Mitchell said.
Once in Iowa, the teens divided into two teams led by the Mitchells, and spent three days scraping sludge from basements, ripping out saturated drywall and flooring and tearing ruined walls down to the studs.
“It was hot and humid and they had to wear jeans, gloves and masks,” Mitchell said. “Those kids worked their tails off and there was not one complaint.”
“We were the only group of high school kids out there working,” added Clete Mitchell. The couple also brought along their four children, ages one to 11.
Group members described houses pushed off their foundations, porches deposited atop fences, mountains of debris carried downstream to lodge against a submerged train dumped into the river when a bridge collapsed, precious family photos caked with mud and slime.
“It was surprising how much of a ghost town it felt; people just had to walk away,” Jennifer Mitchell said.
Those who stayed had little left.
Teens related being moved by flood survivors’ stories: “First they heard there was going to be a flood. First they heard two feet, then four feet; then it was 2:30 in the morning and they were leaving their houses,” recalled Miranda Layne.
They met a man in his 70s who, unable to get a loan to rebuild, had put his property up for sale for a mere $30,000; they gathered the sodden wedding photos of a couple in their 80s who’d fled, moving in with one of their children in another state.
“They won’t be back,” a neighbor advised.
Another elderly neighbor, Whitey, told the teens he’d intended to spend the summer fishing with his grandson; instead he was struggling to salvage his house.
“It was sad; everything they had, all their plans for the summer were just gone,” mused Kendall Leatherman.
The resilient spirit of survivors and rescue workers also touched the group.
Hands On workers, in Iowa until October, “got their first day off while we were there,” Jennifer Mitchell reported. The Red Cross and Salvation Army provided lunches “and wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Clete Mitchell added.
Neighbors, too, offered snacks and root beer to the teens.
“They were such neat people; here they are, they’ve lost everything and they’re making sure we’re okay,” Jennifer Mitchell marveled.
Handing out church-donated $25 Wal-Mart gift cards on their last day in Cedar Rapids, the teens were amazed by the gratitude recipients expressed.
“The littlest things we did made them so happy,” Katherine Leatherman said.
“We were saying we wished it could be more—$25 was such a minimal amount for everyone’s needs—but they were so thankful,” Mitchell added.
Clearly, the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of strangers was for many of these teens the most rewarding part of the experience.
“Working on these houses, we’d never met these people and they were never going to see us; but without our help they couldn’t have afforded to [get their houses ready to rebuild],” Layne said.
“Even though it was just three days, the work we did had a big impact on people,” Katherine Leatherman added. “I thought they’d just let us help a little bit but they actually gave us hard jobs—they turned us loose and trusted us to be responsible.”
“It was an amazing trip. We met so many amazing people and had an awesome time,” Jennifer Mitchell said, summing up the adventure. “It was so powerful, how the kids felt about what they’d accomplished. Getting to do this was a real blessing.”