Monday night after Orientation, the 75 of us from the SW PA synod gathered in the dining hall to get our work assignments for Tuesday morning. The Camp Victor volunteer coordinator had given Pastor Larry 5 jobs to create teams for, so he read them all out with a brief description, and asked for a person to head up each group and gather together a work crew. Al and I debated between one that involved ceramic floor tile (with which we have some experience) and an exterior painting project. We decided on the painting when we learned that the tiling project also involved some tearing out of ruined walls and floors, as Al would probably have had allergy trouble with the mold. Also, we figured that a lot of the older people (of whom there were many) wouldn't be able to climb ladders to a 2nd story, so it might as well be us doing it.
No one had signed up for the painting crew yet, and I heard Pastor Larry ask someone to take the sign up paper for that crew, "just to get people's names". Well of course it turned out that Frank was then our de facto leader, which worked out quite well in the end. So Al and I signed up for that crew, and also Duane, so we had a crew of 4, which sounded like it might be OK, as the work description sheet said it was mostly a second coat of paint on the 2nd floor of a house. More on that later.
Besides the two jobs I've listed, there was a roofing job, an indoor painting job, and a "mucking" job (meaning removing mud, debris, and tearing out whatever was ruined … I was surprised that there were still jobs like that to be done in houses 17 months after the storm, though after having seen Biloxi earlier that day it wasn't as surprising). Also, a number of the women in the group volunteered to work at the camp or distribution center each day, cooking, cleaning, sorting, shopping, helping with case work, etc. So were all told to get our groups together at 7:00 the next morning to get our materials and transportation organized.
We were also given time sheets to fill out each day and turn in at the end of the week. They told us that our logged hours would be used in some way to obtain FEMA reimbursements, and also for Camp Victor to be able to get grants.
Where have the days gone? 