Mets Day 227 - Hurricane Sandy clean-up

To help the Thanksgiving tryptophan wear off, at 6 am of Friday morning I drove three of my children (Chelsea, Spencer and Garrett) to New Jersey to assist with the cleanup from Hurricane Sandy.  We were joined by more than a hundred others from several Mormon congregations in Arlington and Fairfax counties.  The Mormon missionaries and churches in the New York and Jersey shore area had become local coordinators and command posts, in coordination with various government agencies and non-governmental organizations.  Any individuals could submit a request for assistance, and the coordinators would send volunteers to the location.  (A nice 8 min. video of volunteers from Boston assisting in Far Rockaway is here).  I knew that I would be limited in what I could do, but I believed that it was important that my children be give the opportunity to serve others in need. 

Upon our arrival at the local Mormon church that was acting as a command post, we donned our yellow "Mormon Helping Hands" shirts  and got our assignment.  An elderly couple who had lived near the water for more than 40 years needed help in cleaning their yard.  (Their basement had been flooded, but they and their grown children already had dewatered and emptied the basement.)  We arrived to a stunning sight:  a large yard filled covered with two to three feet of debris, including multiple boats:

We couldn't do much about the boats, but we started to sift through the debris, collecting the flotsam and jetsam from the 13 foot surge.  We collected and bagged the plastic and glass, and moved the dimensional wood, including 12x14 timbers more than 16 feet long that were used for seawalls:

We hauled it all to the edge to edge of the street an big piles for the county to pick up later.  Here is a photo of Spencer and me adding to one of the piles. 

It took between 15 and 20 people all day Friday and Saturday to clear this single yard, and create three debris piles that stretched more than 100 yards long:

By Saturday afternoon, we had the entire yard free of debris. 

I spoke with the homeowner.  He was most grateful for our assistance.  He was not Mormon; he said that he had attended a Presbyterian church in his youth, but the only time he went to church as an adult was for weddings and funerals.  He had two children with families whose own homes were damaged, and a third son who was disabled and living with them.  I met most of the family, and they were amazed that we would come out and serve complete strangers.   

We went home tired and dirty, but feeling good at having helped those in need.  I was especially grateful that I could join my children in service, and in teaching that when we are serving others, we are serving God.