Sunday and Monday, October 9 & 10

Bill and I left for the Gulf Coast on Sunday morning, October 9, around 6:30 a.m.

...As we were approaching our destination (October 10) we decided to take a little detour through Pascagoula, Mississippi, thinking we’d find a nice restaurant to stop for lunch. Our first indication that our plans for lunch might need to be flexible was when we drove past the largest debris pile I had ever seen. It must have covered several football fields with piles up to 20 or 30 feet high. There were more refrigerators piled up than I had ever seen in one place before. Every restaurant we passed was closed. We continued on to Gautier, west of Pascagoula, where we passed one of the other Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) tent camps set up in a Presbyterian Church yard. We finally found a fast food restaurant that was open in a shopping mall and had lunch. After lunch we drove to D’Iberville.

We arrived at the PDA “Camp New Hope” in D’Iberville around 3 p.m. We were greeted and shown around by Jimmy, one of the volunteers from South Carolina, who had drawn camp security duty for the afternoon. We unloaded the car and found the tent we’d call home for the next six nights. Before long Doug MacDonald, the camp director, arrived and gave us a brief overview of how the camp worked and where to go to sign in and get our work assignments. We went to the make shift office that was set up near an elementary school to register. We would visit that office each day to get our work assignments and sign in and out. Near the office was a concession stand where volunteers prepared three meals a day for both volunteers and local residents. We stayed and had dinner there before returning to camp for the night. The main course was a creative chicken casserole we referred to as “chicken D’Iberville”. Back at camp we met most of the other volunteers who were staying at the camp (about 30 of us in total; about 18 from Boone, North Carolina, eight from South Carolina, two from Indiana, and the two of us from New Jersey). We had devotions led by the North Carolina contingent and sang Amazing Grace accompanied by Bill on guitar. Then off to bed we went, a bit tired and anxious about what tomorrow would bring.

Tuesday, October 10

We got up around 6 a.m., got dressed, had devotion around 6:45, and left camp around 7 a.m. We were assigned to work at the Jitney Point of Distribution (POD). The POD was a supermarket that had been damaged during the hurricane and was now serving as a warehouse and distribution center for much of the donated food and clothing. Bill and I were assigned to sort through several pallets of cardboard boxes filled with a variety of canned foods and put them in piles of soup, fruits, vegetables, etc. Once sorted the cans were stacked up on tables from which they would be given out. Around 10 a.m. local residents began arriving to gather food,

Gary Kohler at the POD. Photo: Bill Brennan

water, blankets, diapers, personal hygiene items, etc. People continued to flow through the POD until supplies we had sorted ran out around 3 p.m.

I helped one woman to her car with food and water and she thanked me for being there to help her and said she was so grateful for all the help the volunteers were providing. She asked if I knew that some of the volunteers were staying in tents. I said I was one of those volunteers. As tears came to her eyes she hugged me and said I was an angel. She said she lost everything and was getting so tired of living day to day with so much uncertainty about what the future holds. I told her that living day to day was a big accomplishment right now and not to lose hope. Any doubts I may have had about the merits of this trip disappeared as she drove away.

While I was outside helping people carry food and water to their cars, Bill was inside talking with the local POD staff about the need to better organize the inventory in the POD.

...Bill made a scale drawing of the warehouse space. Next, he met with Ruby and Peggy Sue, two local women who were managing the POD and put some ideas on paper. He then met with Doug and Mike, two local forklift operators, and together came up with a plan to create locations for inventory, lanes for the forklifts and a central receiving area. As the plan evolved, all team members had the opportunity to provide input. This improved the quality of the plan, and when it was finished it went into effect quickly. Bill felt that it was a gift to work with this team. They all suffered greatly from the storm and yet worked up to 14 hours a day to keep the POD going. The plan they put in place made a huge difference in the operation of the POD.

...Irene’s chief assistant for the relief effort in D’Iberville was Ed, a Ph. D. marine biologist who worked as a consultant to the oyster industry before Katrina hit. Ed saw me outside the POD distributing cases of water and found a shark’s hat for me to wear. All you could see was this shark fin bobbing up and down behind pallets of water. That hat was a source of some much-needed humor throughout the day.

After a long day at the POD we drove around the worst hit areas in D’Iberville known as the “Red Zone”. We saw block after block of flattened houses with nothing left but a driveway and front steps. One house that was still barely standing had a “For Rent” sign outside. Good to see someone still had a sense of humor.

…After a hot shower in a trailer set up outside our camp, we ate dinner and participated in a brief devotion…We went to bed feeling like we had made a small difference by being here today.

Wednesday,
October 12

Doug asked one of us to sit at the camp this morning for camp security. Since Bill was in the middle of developing an improved inventory management system for the POD, we agreed he should go to the POD and I’d sit at the camp.

Bill Brennan at the POD. Photo: Gary Kohler

We woke up around 6:15 and had devotion around 6:45. About 6 of the younger volunteers from North Carolina left for home this morning. leaving us with about 24 volunteers.

Most of the other volunteers left camp around 7 headed for the concession stand for breakfast and then on to the registration office to get their assignments for the day. I stayed behind at the camp, had cereal and a granola bar for breakfast, and began my security duties, which included camp cleanup and answering questions of anyone who came up to the camp.

...Two other people came by that morning. One was a salesman handing out literature on temporary housing his company was selling. I told him we were not in the market for temporary housing but that I’d pass his literature along to others who might be. The other was a woman inquiring about where to get help cleaning out her house. I told her to go to the registration office and put her request on the list requesting volunteer help. She thanked me for the advice and went to the registration office to put her needs on the list.

...After serving about 150 dinners from the Red Cross (chicken breasts cooked in a bean and carrot stew — a cut above chicken D’Iberville), we cleaned up and got back to camp around 8:30. After a hot shower and devotion we went to bed. Bill and I compared notes since we hadn’t seen each other all day and once again we felt good about being here.

Thursday, October 13

…We arrived at a modest but nice looking house with a FEMA trailer parked in the front yard. Most of the other houses on the street had huge mounds of debris piled in front of the houses. A distinguished looking middle-aged man greeted us and invited us in to look around. As we entered his house he gave us a 15-minute sermon about how God had saved him and his neighbors from this horrible storm and how he was never afraid because he knew God was with him. The man’s name was Roy Diggs and he serves as pastor at a small church. What an inspiration.

Roy’s house is one of the few two story houses on the block. The first floor sits about 4 feet above street level and had about 8 feet of water inside. His neighbor’s houses were single story and had water up to the roofline. As the water rose his neighbors went onto their roofs and then swam to Roy’s house to get to higher ground. They rode out the storm from Roy’s second story.

There were six of us working all day at Roy’s house to remove the wet sheetrock and insulation from the first floor. We took out all the doors and woodwork and removed the kitchen cabinets, dishwasher, bathroom cabinets, etc. The debris was piled up so high in front of Roy’s house you could hardly see the house from the street. We also did some work for his neighbor, Mary. At the end of the day Rev. Ron from the North Carolina church led us in a prayer circle to pray for Mary and Roy and to express thanks for the opportunity to help them.

...I asked Ed how the Presbyterians wound up in D’Iberville. He said right after the storm a number of relief organizations, including PDA, participated in conference calls with various communities affected by Katrina, during which the local communities articulated their needs. Based on those teleconferences, PDA stepped up and agreed to partner with D’Iberville to try to meet some of their needs.

Friday, October 14

Bill and I drew concession stand duty for lunch and dinner. We got up around 6:30, had devotion around 6:45 and again had breakfast at the camp. The South Carolina contingent left for home this morning, leaving us with about 16 volunteers in camp. After breakfast we went to the concession stand to get briefed on operating procedures and got the key from the breakfast crew from North Carolina.

...Shortly after 1 p.m., three people came by wearing shirts with Kentucky Health Department logos. They were health inspectors called in by the Mississippi officials to inspect the kitchens serving food as well as the distribution centers. We passed with flying colors; Irene and Ed were very pleased. The inspectors commented that other community leaders on the Gulf Coast should be invited to tour the D’Iberville sites to help improve their operations, organization and sanitation. This is another tribute to the great work being done by Irene and Ed.

Saturday, October 15

A young woman came by the concession stand to deliver copies of the local daily newspaper to us. Dr. Bill was having breakfast at the time and he recognized her as one of his patients from the clinic. She has four boys — several of who needed medical attention as well. Her husband is in New Orleans working on rebuilding the levees. Her face lit up when Dr. Bill remembered her and asked about her boys. She thanked us all and took some breakfast home for her family…We served about 100 lunches, cleaned up, and left the concession stand around 2:30.

Sunday and Monday, October 16 & 17

We got up around 6 am, packed, cleaned out our tent, signed the board outside the camp, said good-by to whoever was out and about, and by around 7 am we were on our way home…I got home around 4pm (October 17), tired but feeling like we had made a difference (and yes, we’d do it again).