by Angela Rinehart on Monday, June 20, 2011 at 7:46pm

Today we headed over to CHCC to help again with the distribution of goods.  We had more people coming through for items and fewer volunteers.  The first lady I went shopping with had lost her home, lost her job (she worked at the hospital that was destroyed) and when she pulled her car around to load up, I noticed her windshield was smashed up.  She began to cry as we loaded her car-my heart broke for her.

This week we have met people from all over the place who have come to help.  There was a group of young college kids from Illinois who hopped in a van and headed down to help.  There was a law student from Kentucky who is planning on spending the entire summer here.  A grandma from Kansas who came over the day after the tornado hit and has only been home once in the last month.  We even met a couple who drove from Portland, OR to come and help for just a few days.  It seems everyone has some sort of connection to this town and so many people want to help.  It sure makes me proud of our country.

We set off around 3 to take care of some loose ends.  We found some cooking gear for the guy I had met a few days ago who is living in a tent.  We scored him some pots and pans, some utensils and an oven mitt.  Hilary had met a guy that needed an air conditioner installed so we headed over to his place to see if we could help.  When we arrived, there was another group already there taking care of it!  We tried to find the smashed windshield lady-we were going to see if we could help her get a new one-but we couldn’t find her.

After dinner with Amanda and her adorable kids, we returned home to shower and hit the hay.  It has been a great few days.  Sometimes I felt like I was making a difference and other times as if I should do more.  Looking at all of the damage, it’s hard to know what to do first.  Just loving people and supporting them one need at a time is all we can really do.  This town is awesome-this community is very unique.  I’ve seen all of these people come together to help one another and it is a beautiful thing!

by Angela Rinehart on Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 7:36pm

We attended church at Oronogo Christian Church this morning.  This is where Joe was on staff for about 7 years before coming to Colorado.  It is a large church with 3 services every Sunday.  The pastor was excellent!  What a great message-he was very direct and engaging.  I plan on listening to some more of his stuff online-he was that good!

After church, we headed out to lunch and then went on a little driving tour of Ozark Christian College.  It is a small campus but pretty.  Now Marissa has another school she is looking at for next year.

We returned home to change and, not wanting to waste a perfectly good work day, (the churches closed their tents this Sunday-the first day off in a month!) we sought out a job we could do for an individual impacted by the tornado.  We were given the name of an elderly, disabled woman who needed her lawn cleaned up.  She had pieces and chunks of debris all over her front and back yards.  We raked (thank the Good Lord she had 4 rakes!) while Joe mowed the lawn.  We were all very hot, dirty, tired, and a little scratched up by the time we were done.  There was some great teamwork and we finished in about 2.5 hours.  The yard looked so much better and she was so appreciative.  While raking, Bruce found a collector thimble-one of those made out of porcelain that people put on a tiny shelf.  When he showed it to our little lady, she was so excited.  Her grandkids had given her a set of 12 over time and during the tornado, they were sucked out of a hole in the roof.  She searched and searched and could only find 11-until old Bruce came along!  Now her set is complete and she is so happy!

After a quick clean-up, we headed out to dinner.  Joe is in LOVE with a restaurant called Mucho Mexico.  It is buffet style Mexican food and boy, is it yummy.

We have enjoyed some laughs throughout the last few days.  Joe is fond of saying, “It’s Missouri”, whenever we see something a little odd.  For instance, the lady in the car beside us picking her teeth with a credit card.  Whatever it was, it was giving her a hard time because she was really digging.  There was also the man with the business up front and party in the back hairdo-you all know what I mean.  Can’t forget the super slo-mo pace in which everyone moves around here-I don’t think I could handle that for very long.

A quick trip to Wal-Mart for some supplies and then we called it a night.  We didn’t work very long today but we’re all pretty beat.

by Angela Rinehart on Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 9:56pm

Our morning was the same as yesterday-a quick breakfast and an orientation at the church.  Bruce decided to return to the warehouse and continue working with Micah for the day.  Joe was off schmoozing, trying to make arrangements for the next trip LBCC will be making out to Joplin with the youth group.  We ladies decided to try a more relational side of working with the victims.

CHCC set up a “processing” system for the people who need things.  They begin in the receiving room.  Hilary worked there all day-in an air-conditioned room.  She had the people fill out some paperwork and asked them to tell their story.  She heard some doozies!  Next, they were ushered across the hall to get a little more information and to be assigned a PSA-personal shopping assistant.  This is what I did all day-I shopped!  I went with people around to all of the different tents to pick up any supplies that they might need.  Within each tent sat volunteers who located items our shoppers needed.  This is where Marissa spent her day-amongst the toothpastes and deodorants.  This process allowed for shoppers to tell their story and to find and get what they needed while being loved by those who want to help.

I assisted several different families, each with unique circumstances.  My first family was a mom, dad and 9 year old son.  The mom had actually volunteered in the tents the day before.  She said that if she was going to take some things, she wanted to earn it first.  Her son told me about his tornado experience stating that they hid under the kitchen table with nothing more than a blanket over them.  Their home is not lost but they cannot live in it and are staying with friends for now.  I had a young man come through who is living in a tent.  He said his apartment was destroyed and he has blown through his entire savings so now has to live at a campground.  We had to choose wisely as he had no way of cooking-no stove or microwave, just an open fire.  When we started, he didn’t even have a can opener.  We collected an array of items he could camp with for a while including a sleeping bag and a flashlight and batteries.  What he really needed were some pots and pans but we did not have any.  He was so polite calling me ma’am the entire time.

We were told that the number of people coming through the church needing items had begun to dwindle but those who are coming, are in great need.  Several people stated that they did not want to come because they don’t want charity or because they are embarrassed.  The last couple I helped were in that category-they said that they had avoided taking charity but had to come in today.  They lived in her mother’s home, taking care of her, and the insurance will only cover her mother’s things-not theirs.  Her husband worked out of his garage and lost all of his tools.  Insurance is refusing to cover the cost.  Each story was as individual as person.

The tents in the parking lot of the church were numerous.  The first three contained nonperishable food items.  Canned goods and packaged foods were a-plenty.  Then we moved on to personal items like toothbrushes, razors, deodorant, and shampoo.  They always seemed to be short on conditioner and men’s products.  The next tent held paper goods.  Toilet paper, tissue, paper plates, etc.  There was a tent filled with baby items which was great because we all can recall how expensive diapers and formula are.  A household tent had a large array of items from cleaning supplies to flashlights.  The first time around I saw tents and sleeping bags but they were all gone by my next walk through.  Toward the end of the day, someone showed up with some box fans which went quickly.  There was a medical tent with some basic first aid supplies.  There was never enough Tylenol or Advil!  The last tent had pet supplies-mostly dog and cat stuff and a little bit for birds.  As the cars were loaded, we always threw in a bunch of bottled water.  The best part was that I had an opportunity to pray with each family I shopped with.  What a great experience!

We headed back for showers (um, it was stinking HOT!) and then met my brother and his wife for dinner.  They live in Coffeyville, KS which is about 2 hours away.  We all had a good time talking about our experiences, cars, and stuffed ourselves at Cheddars.  Thanks Adrian and Trish for getting our dinner!  It was really yummy and it was great to see you guys!

The five of us headed over to Braum’s for dessert.  Joe bought us all ice cream as we debriefed.  We discussed our experiences and what has impacted us most and what we will be taking away from the few days we were here.  We each talked about different aspects of the trip-the hope the victims have, the generosity of the volunteers and those who are giving, the strong sense of community, and the fact that we should not forget about the long-time rebuilding that the Joplin community will be doing.

Check out this site-it shows the path of the tornado.

http://www.news-leader.com/interactive/article/20110523/MISC/110523058/Interactive-Map-Joplin-Tornado-Damage

by Angela Rinehart on Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 6:09am

We began our day at 7 am.  We stopped by Wal-mart to grab some breakfast food and then headed over to CHCC for an orientation.  After a brief meeting explaining what jobs were available and what to expect with each, we finally got to work!

The five of us stuck together and headed over to Crossroads Warehouse-this is one of many warehouses that are accepting truckloads of donations from all around the country.  We were to help offload the various items, sort them, count them, repackage them according to item, stack them and get them ready to send back out.  Boy, did I learn a lot about what to do for victims in this kind of situation and what NOT to do.

A lot of the stuff we sorted seemed to be stuff people just threw in a box because they didn’t want it anymore.  A distribution center for victim relief is not the place for that kind of thing.  The man power it takes to sort and the space it takes to store that kind of stuff can be used in much better ways.  For instance, hotel size lotion bottles-don’t bother!  Throw them out if you’re not going to use it.  Don’t send it miles away.  Also, don’t make “kits”.  One toothbrush, one pair of socks, one bar of soap, one hand sanitizer one razor.  People do not realize that we just take those apart and sort the pieces out-what a waste of time for everyone.

The clothes.  What do I say about that?  When we first got there, we sorted the pallets from a truck that had arrived the day before.  About 75% of it was clothes.  Clothing is not needed at this time.  All we did was stack it up and stick it someplace to be stored.  I asked Micah, the guy running the warehouse, why clothing wasn’t a needed commodity-I would think if you lost your house, this would be a great need.  He said that most people are so overwhelmed with the loss that clothing is one of the last things they are thinking about.  They usually get a few things to get them by and then focus on the big things, like a place to live.  Also, the sorting of the clothing is a daunting task for both a volunteer and a victim.  Sifting through used clothes would be the last thing I would want to do after experiencing such loss.  Micah’s suggestion-have a garage sale and then send the money.  Also, check a local church for what the needs might be before taking up a collection.  CHCC updates their lists frequently and they are very clear about what items are in great demand and which will just sit and collect dust.  I did find that we were in much need of volunteer items most of the day.  Sharpies, tape, scissors, box cutters, etc.

We were provided a hot lunch-where it came from and who it was from was unclear.  It also wasn’t as hot as I thought it would be.  Don’t get me wrong, we were sweating but being a Colorado girl, I thought I’d hit the dirt after only a few hours.

At about  4:30, we stopped working and headed out for a tour of the damaged city.  When you see a shot of the damage on TV, you only see what is in their frame.  Now, imagine if the cameraman turned in a slow circle while rolling and what you saw from every angle was the same destruction.  That is exactly what it looks like.  For blocks and blocks, things are gone.  People who have lived here their whole lives don’t recognize neighborhoods anymore.  We tried to “map” it-from about 15th to 32nd and from Range Line to McClelland.  This is just what we saw, I’m sure there was damage outside of that area.

After a quick clean up and shower, we were invited over to Micah’s house for dinner.  His lovely wife, Justine, made a wonderful spread and they were gracious hosts.  We played a game after dinner but no one can seem to remember who won…it might have been me.  Right, Joe?

We are heading to bed, all of us worn from the days hard work.  Say a prayer…I don’t want to know the details, but the boys have been checking under the hood of the church van a lot lately.  Not a good sign.  I would hate to be stuck on the side of the road in the hot sun somewhere between here and Longmont.  Reminds of high school church trips.  I don’t think we ever went somewhere when we didn’t have church van troubles.  Ahh, good times…

by Angela Rinehart on Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 9:23pm

Five brave souls left Longmont, CO, heading into the eastern sunrise toward Joplin, MO. Brave, not because of the work waiting ahead of them, but because they left before 6 am.

I am joined by my daughter, Marissa, Joe Puentes, Bruce Farwell, and Hillary Wilson. We are like-minded in our desire to help those devastated by the tornado yet we are a diverse group, each with our individual talents and gifts. For instance, Joe’s ability to, at any given time, locate the nearest Starbuck’s. Truly, a spiritual gift from the Lord above.

I have made many-a-trip to/through Kansas (thanks a lot, mom) and it’s never been a pleasure. However, this trip has been a pleasant surprise. I’ve never seen it so green and lush. Don’t get me wrong, we still had to hold onto our hats whenever we stopped somewhere-the wind was, as always, ridiculous.

After 12 hours on the road and some rush hour traffic in Kansas City, we entered the town of Joplin. We can immediately see the signs of devastation. Trees stripped of their leaves and branches, windows blown out, houses half gone. What amazes me is that one building can be totally destroyed while the ones around it appear to be untouched.

We will be using College Heights Christian Church as our home base. LBCC and CHCC have some long-time connections. We will receive our work assignments tomorrow morning-I’m eager to start helping!

A couple families from CHCC have generously agreed to put us up while we are here. The men are staying with Micah & Justine Foreman and the ladies are with Amanda Hedger. A special thanks to these families for supplying us a place to sleep while we are here-your generosity is greatly appreciated!

Also, a special thank you to Patty Nowland, Charlene and Mike Rinehart, Rachel Peterson, Lorraine Ward, and to all of those who are praying and supporting us from back home!