- Sunday
August 15th: Less than 24 hours back in Saint
Petersburg after evacuating and I feel miserable to see
the destruction of Hurricane Charley that was bound for
everybody in the Tampa Bay area. Sure I feel relieve that
we got lucky but I am depressed to hear about the people
down south who “took the bullet for us”.
- Monday
August 16th: I can’t sit here anymore and
watch the news. The victims of Hurricane Charley need
help! I am ready to go to help anybody who needs it. Let’s
see who else feels like me. I wrote the first e-mail and
started an e-mail broadcast to over 5000 people. Cindy
donated today $ 300.00 to the relief fund in form of goods
that have been purchased at Sam’s Club.
- Tuesday
August 17th: I am calling all the phone numbers
on the news and in the papers to find out where help is
needed. It is frustrating as you only get busy signals,
recordings, or the run around between organizations.
The credit came through for the DVD burner I returned
and I went to buy a chainsaw.
Finally the first responds are coming in with people donating
stuff. It is 6 pm and I am walking door to door in my
neighborhood to get support. Some are interested in volunteering,
some consider donating supplies but I went home with only
three gallons of water (thanks Ed & June).
Finally United Way calls me back but only takes down information.
I pressed the fact that I have cordless power tools, a
chainsaw and lots of supplies – they will get back
to me to dispatch me for Wednesday and Thursday.
I keep on thinking what I can do to give the people at
ground zero hope and cheer them up. Since I like to BBQ
the idea comes up of a giant grill and to serve them some
home made hotdogs. Time to hit the phone and see if it
can be done.
Calls are going from the Charlotte County Sheriffs Department
to rental places for these giant trailer BBQs.
A friend of mine who is a nurse and volunteers for the
Red Cross in Arcadia, FL calls me and tells me about a
sick elderly couple who’s home got destroyed and
needs relocation. They have a van, trailer, and a new
home lined up but need some help to move them. Minutes
later I am on the phone with their granddaughter and promise
them to be down on Wednesday around 10 am to help.
In the meantime I enrolled Dave (yeah Doc they call you)
so Cindy can stay back in the office on Wednesday and
work the phones.
It’s past 11 pm and I am updating the hurricane
section of the web site and the e-mail broadcast when
I get a call back at 11:30 pm from the Charlotte County
Sheriffs Department. I talked to Tracy and gave her the
quick rundown on Saturday’s effort. Then she put
me on with Dan from the U.S. Army who was wondering about
the logistics of serving 5000 hotdogs. After I told him
the plan and ask for help to find the perfect spot that
is also secure he promised me to get back to me. But Tracy
and Dan gave me two thumps up for my efforts.
- Wednesday
August 18th: Dave and I arrive in Arcadia at
10:30 am and meet Sara and her grandparents at the Red
Cross that is setup at the Middle School. We drop of the
supplies/donations we brought and precede to the trailer
park. Sara’s grandparents trailer is a complete
loss. One room gone completely, the trailer almost split
in half by two trees… see pictures. Sara’s
grandfather has Emphysema and they can’t move everything
out of their destroyed mobile home by themselves. They
have been sleeping in the car for days but found another
mobile home to rent approx. 15 miles away. It is hotter
than hell and the heat index must be way above 100 degrees.
Dave and I got them moved in the early afternoon and we
are going back to the Red Cross trying to find some people
who need manpower and a chainsaw. The Red Cross sent us
over to the Baptist Church where they supposedly dispatch
volunteers but there was nothing going on. We checked
with the MP and National Guard in the parking lot at “Save
a Lot” where there is food and water being handed
out but nobody could tell us anything. Arcadia is badly
organized and it seems one hand doesn’t know what
the other is doing. After a while, cruising the neighborhoods
on our own we decide to drive back to St. Pete before
it’s getting too late. United Way called me back
and said they would have a location in Polk County for
us to help tomorrow.
Cindy was staying in the office on the phone trying to
get donations and money in for this weekends hotdog BBQ
in Port Charlotte. Sam, the Manager at Albertson’s
is great and is selling to us at their cost. He even will
let us use their freezer to store the sodas, hotdogs,
etc. for a few days. Publix just took the attitude that
they are doing enough on a corporate level and was not
willing to support our effort in any way. Cindy &
I are up late into the night answering e-mails, making
calls and trying to organize everything for the weekend.
It’s almost midnight when I am getting a call back
from the Port Charlotte Sheriffs Department. There was
also a guy from the U.S. Army who asked me about the logistics
of the cookout and how we would prepare them. I get the
OK (proceed with caution) after I tell them about the
trailer grill and the details. My adrenaline is way up
and I have a hard time getting to sleep, even though I
am exhausted.
- Thursday
August 19th: We meet with Rob – another
volunteer at Home Depot where I bought some supplies and
we are headed with Dave to Polk county. I get a hold of
United Way and they give me a city contact in Haines City
where they need help with the cleanup. Finally a contact
that is responsive and within 15 minutes of our arrival
in Haines City we are following a city worker to meet
a crew at the cemetery that needed to be cleared (I believe
that is important to give the people in Haines City peace
and serenity).
Again, the heat index must be over 110 degrees and we
can only work 15 minutes before we have to take a break
in the shade. It is unreal the amounts of water we are
drinking. Also the insects that have nested in the debris
eating us alive but we are making good progress and the
city crew was happy to see some volunteers coming with
chains saw. I was impressed with the organization Haines
City had setup at the Eva Civic center and how efficient
they are executing their cleanup plan.
One important thing we learned from the Park District
Supervisor that day is that water alone doesn’t
do it in this heat - you need to drink a Gatorade for
the electrolytes between every 2-3 bottles of water.
It’s almost 5 pm by the time we are headed back
home and traffic is not good.
Cindy was all day on the phone working on the weekend
project and what a great job she did: She had pricing
and availability for all supplies, plus donations, and
important e-mails ready to go over. There was a girl from
Sarasota who wrote and wanted tips as they are planning
a relief effort with 15 handymen this weekend in Port
Charlotte. After talking to her a few times we decided
to meet up in PC and use our hotdog stand as base to dispatch
the handyman. I contacted the EOC (Emergency Operations
Center) in PC and asked for a list of people who need
help…
- Friday
August 20th: On the phone, fax and computer all
day trying to get everything together. Some final calls
to Home Depot’s in time trying to get a generator
for the weekend. The new HD at Tyrone comes through and
lets us rent it over the weekend for one cent (THANK YOU).
Then I am off to Tampa to get the ’94 pickup truck
that was donated by Wajed for the relief effort. Unfortunately
I spend a lot of time getting the registration renewed
but it was worth it. It runs and as it later turns out
saved our neck. Something weird happens in the afternoon:
Many of the people who promised to volunteer this weekend
don’t return calls, including the guy with the box
truck and the handymen group from Sarasota. The EOC faxed
a list of over 20 homes/people who need help – anything
from trees in the roof, tarps needed on roofs, to helping
the elderly with the cleanup. It is early evening and
Cindy and I are very stressed facing a logistical nightmare.
Luckily Marilyn comes through that evening with her mini
van and with her help, Cindy’s SUV and the donated
pickup truck we get all the supplies from Sam’s
Club over to the cooler at Albertson’s. 9 pm and
no word from the “volunteers” – everything
seems to be falling apart and we are making a few last
second phone calls. Marilyn got her daughter to join us
in the morning with her SUV. Still no word from the Sarasota
handymen group but he have a few people from a construction
company in St. Pete to meet up with us in Port Charlotte.
In a desperate effort to round up some handyman and somebody
with a box truck (all of them in town are already rented)
I start calling the media. 98 Rock and Channel 9 News
said they see what they can do, but when I call 97X I
was told that they couldn’t announce our relief
effort because they are doing their own – what is
this? Since when are we competing to help people? We all
should pull together!
It’s past midnight and we are printing out directions
to the homes that need repairs. Totally wound up, stressed
and exhausted we are trying to get some sleep around 2
am.
- Saturday
August 21st: Two alarm clocks go off at 5 am
and I am trying to pull myself together. I need to slow
down ‘cause the stress is getting to me. 6 am I
am at Home Depot to get some more staples and tarps. I
stopped at a gas station on the way back and picked up
a few cans of Fix-A-Flat (just in case). We are suppose
to meet our volunteers at 8 am in the Albertson’s
parking lot but there’s no way that we will make
it. Cindy is out to get the trailer grill, which Rudy’s
Rentals lets us have at a 50% discount. I meet Christine
at Albertson’s and ask her to sum up the volunteers.
Luckily Wajed was coming down, too, and brought two of
his employees with a van in which we loaded over 500 pounds
of ice. 10 am we are finally rolling completely stressed
out with only ½ the hotdogs and sodas we wanted
to take. The construction guys called and said they would
meet us at the Office Depot in Port Charlotte and I am
having hopes that we can take care of at least a few homes
while other volunteers are serving the hotdogs.
Office Depot was in Port Charlotte was great – the
Manager knew we are coming and not only did they let us
use their parking lot but they also offered us to use
their washrooms and to sit inside the store if the heat
is getting to anybody.
We don’t have enough coolers for the drinks and
Pat had the great idea to use the bed on the pickup truck
as a cooler/ice chest.
It is 12:30 pm by the time we have our stand setup and
thanks to Cindy’s friends and daughters in Northport
we have an extra table, fan and a few extra hands. WE
ARE FINALLY SERVING HOTDOGS!
Sure it was hot again, especially in front of the grill
and in the sun but the fans and generator we brought helped.
Neither the handyman group from Sarasota nor the contractors
from St. Pete showed up and since some of our volunteers
could not handle the heat and left early we were only
able to send Pat & Wilson out to help one elderly
couple but they where not at home.
Overall things still worked out that day and we served
about 500 hotdogs.
Thanks to Deb & Dor we are able to leave all the leftover
supplies and everything for Sunday at their house in Northport
(good thing they had an empty refrigerator on the lanai).
It was one hell of a day and we are leaving Northport
right before sunset. We decided to go the next day closer
to “ground zero” in the hopes to feet more
people in need.
- Sunday
August 22nd: Even though we are exhausted and
still stressed out we managed to setup our stand near
Kings Hwy. And Tamiami Trail in a shopping strip where
State Farm had their tent setup for insurance claims (what
better spot could we get). We had the grill running by
noon and used my hurricane plywood boards for signs in
the street that read “Free food and cold drinks”.
We are busy from the get go and the responds from the
people stopping by is unbelievable: People asked us what
organization we are from and we just said it’s the
“Pinellas DIY Relief Effort”. Hurricane Victims
came to personally shake my hand and thank me when they
found out that Cindy and I organized everything and financed
a good part of it. I just said that I would be happy to
see them in Saint Petersburg doing the same if Charley
would have hit us. Words and pictures cannot describe
the gratitude of the people!
A big Thank You to those people who came from all over
the state and dropped off supplies / donations at our
stand. We have seen folks from as far as Ft. Lauderdale
to Tallahassee who just loaded up their car with water,
diapers, sandwiches etc, etc, etc. The Hurricane Victims
who stopped buy that day really needed those things and
are very thankful to all of you (the 4 boxes of mosquito
repellent was gone in 5 minutes tops).
Special thanks to the person who dropped of the giant
box of Popsicles, Edie for supplying two boxes of children
books - you guys made a lot of children and adults smile
that day and gave them hope. We all do pull together in
times of need! Thank You!
The weather played along and we broke down the stand at
7 pm before the thunderstorm came in and to make it out
in time before the curfew. We served around 1000 hotdogs
that day and who knows how many donated supplies went
out to the people in need. Any donated supplies and soda
leftovers we had that day went over to truck of the Florida
Verterans who assured us to pass it out throughout the
week.
We did not get home until after 10 pm that night and even
though we are exhausted and our nerves are wrecked we
are feeling very good about his DIY Relief effort!
In the end we did pull it off, feed over 1500 people,
went through over 1200 pounds of ice and who knows how
many cases of soda.
WE DID MAKE A DIFFERNCE and thank you to everybody helping
making it possible!
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