Ever since Cedar Rapids was ravaged by floodwaters about a month ago, I've wanted nothing more than to go there and do whatever I could to help clean up the mess. This past weekend, I did exactly that – and now I want nothing more than to go back and do the same thing again. Because frankly, my eight hours of volunteer work couldn't even begin to make a dent in what remains to be done.
I spent the first part of my day Monday at a nonprofit organization called Aid to Women. It's a crisis pregnancy center near downtown that was completely inundated with water. My sister and I were sent to work in the agency's garage, which had had water up to its roof line. We wielded heavy tools – prybars, I think they were called – and tore down all the walls, ripped out drywall and disposed of wheel barrows full of wet, moldy insulation (see picture above).
After about six hours of manual labor, I dropped my sister off at home, then went out to help a family I had met through one of the flood-relief Web sites. The middle-aged couple have six foster children, and their extensively remodeled home had sustained water damage all the way up to the second floor. It was a humbling and eye-opening experience to work with two people who had lost absolutely everything – they were give only 30 minutes to evacuate their house when the waters started to rise.
They already had stripped out the interior of their house (see picture at top) and needed help sweeping what remained of the floor and bleaching the walls – the final step before rebuilding can begin. And no matter how much I swept, there was always more dirt and drywall scraps remaining. After helping them for a few hours, I was disappointed that I hadn't been able to do more – and depressed to think that this was just one family among block after block of devastated homes.
I wish I could quit my job and devote all my time to helping these people. And if I had no bills to pay, that's exactly what I would do.
