Mormon Helping Hands

Joe and Justice had the opportunity to go to Baton Rouge, LA with over 300 local members of our church to help with disaster relief after the horrible flooding.  Mormon Helping Hands was officially established in 1998 to identify service being done by member's of our church.  It is used world-wide to provide service after natural disasters, and also to perform other types of community service.  

They set out at around 4 PM on a Friday for the six hour drive, and got back home on Sunday at around 6 PM.

I laugh at this picture because Joe looks so grumpy and Justice does not.  That's because Joe knows whats in store for the weekend, and Justice is clueless.  LOL.  I assure you he was looking more like his Dad when they got to Baton Rouge.  

Once they arrived, there was an area near the local church building where they set up camp.  Every volunteer was responsible for bringing their own supplies, tools, and food.  

Volunteers slept in tents in the field near the church.  The ground was so saturated and it rained so hard while they were there that their tent flooded and they ended up sleeping in the truck.  

Volunteers gathered together in the morning getting ready to head out.  The yellow shirts are what our church volunteers wear worldwide to identify that they are with Mormon Helping Hands.

Here are some pictures taken by Justice and Joe of the area they were working in.

What a disaster.  Every item had to removed from people's houses.  It was pretty gross.  It was hot, moldy, stinky and it just wouldn't stop raining.  

After all the items were removed from the home, volunteers removed drywall, insulation, etc. from the walls at a height above the floodline.  I need to add that our volunteers were not sent to clean the houses of other member's of our church, they are helping the local community.  One house at a time.

Justice said the most humbling thing was to just see people's lives just sitting on the curb.  Everything they owned and worked for was gone.  And this was not a flood plain, so these people have no flood insurance.  

And it just kept raining, making clean up efforts even more difficult.

Even the flooring had to come up.  You can see in the background where the drywall is gone.  Nearly everyone in the picture below is a young person.  Our church teaches service and hard work from a very early age.  They are used to it and Joe said all the youth on his team worked very hard.  

I have to take a second to go off track.  I have this app called Life360.  I am also a worrywart with a side of OCD.  This app gave me great peace of mind while they were gone because I could just log in and see where they were at.  I knew they were busy and didn't have time to check in, but I still worried.  So, here is an ariel view of where they were working. 

  

 Ah.  The food.  Let's talk about that.  So, Justice has been on a mostly whole foods, nearly preservative free diet for a few years now.   There was no refrigeration and no cooking going on, so everything they brought had to be shelf-stable and ready to eat.  So, you know... Spam.  Vienna Sausages, crackers, cheese in a can, cookies, spaghettio's, etc.  

Hahaha.  Here's a picture that will tell you how he felt about his food while he was gone.  The spam almost killed him.  I personally like spam, if I had to eat shelf stable food I'd be all over it.  Apparently he does not share my joy in it.  

Justice was so tired he climbed in the truck still in his work clothes and slept most of the way home. 

And while The Coach headed straight for the shower, this kid headed straight for the cinnamon rolls.  LOL.  

He looks sad, and tired.  And he was.  He was heartsick for those people, and although these lessons are hard to learn, he definitely learned about compassion over the weekend.  It was a good for him to serve those people, it will have a lasting impact on him that will serve him well in the future.  

 In total, Mormon Helping Hands had over 6,000 volunteers from all over the region come together to assist the people of Baton Rouge last weekend.  They had the same number this weekend, and expect the same the next.  I am so grateful to be a member of this church.