Week 1 - Hurricane Relief in Wauchula, FL
Week 1 on the LOST Bus is done! Such a meaningful week filled with so much and I will do my best to explain it (keep reading for a sneak peak into Cain’s journal at the end).
We spent our first week in Wauchula, Florida, a town of around 5,000 people in Hardee County. We chose this town because Biscuit Reichel’s (a friend from my young life team at Clemson) brother and sister-in-law lived there and expressed a need for volunteers. We reached out Monday morning after we had left Charleston and within a few hours we were connected with a local non-profit, SendMeMission (SMM).
Our drive down to Florida (accompanied by our friend Gibby who hitched a ride) was filled with waving and honking to people staring at our bright blue bus, and swinging in our makeshift Eno chair. I usually fall asleep really fast but Sunday night it took me a while because I was so excited! Monday night was spent in Orlando with our first overnight guest (Ryan Campbell) and a warm welcome from the Orlando Fellows community.
Gibby joining us on our drive to Florida
Meredith Bell, Ryan Campbell, Frances Gray and other Orlando resident’s hanging out in the bus.
Hardee County is a rural area predominately relying on fruit production. The folks here do not have a lot to begin with, and much of what they did have was wiped out by Hurricane Ian. The need in Hardee county was unique because of the lack of media attention which resulted in them having less support from larger groups and requiring local groups to step up. SendMeMission typically travels to locations hit by natural disasters, but after Hurricane Ian they were able to basecamp out of their headquarters in Hardee County and serve their neighbors. We spent the majority of our time tarping roofs to keep houses dry, removing portions of houses containing water damage and any other priority needs. Cain and Davis continue to impress me with their handyman skills during this work, and they were able to help me problem solve in situations I felt LOST. Cain, Davis and I completed 25 work orders during our week in Wauchula.
Maggie and Harrison helping us unload all the donations given to us at the send-off party
We got really good at tarping this week
Ricky pretending he is taking a picture of us .. PRANKED
Tarping houses is fun!
During my reflection of this first week, I have three main realizations:
1. SendMeMission is an extraordinary organization.
SendMeMission immediately welcomed us in and treated us as family. They provided a home base for the bus with showers, a scale (at the beginning of the week Josh weighed the most but by the end Davis weighed the most), and lots of GoGoSqueezes (hence Davis weighing the most by the end of the week). Although GoGoSqueezes are good, the people of this ministry are what made it so special. Jamie Samuels is the co-founder and President of SMM and she is incredible. She has perfected the balance of taking care of business, as well as being extremely personable and funny. She has set a great example for the rest of the staff and volunteers.
Thank you to everyone at SMM for making the LOST Boys/Carolina Boys (as they called us) so welcome and for always signing your name at the end of text messages in our group message! We felt so encouraged by each of you and hope to work together again one day. Everybody should check out their website (https://www.sendmemissions.com/home) to learn more about the impact they are having.
The best parking spot!
Jamie’s birthday party!
2. People of Wauchula are cooler than the name of the town which is a really cool name!
The second point goes along with the first point because everyone at SMM is amazing, but I want to emphasize this because there were also remarkable people outside SMM. We had the opportunity to serve with some amazing locals as well as working together with homeowners and spending time with them.
One of my favorite parts of cleaning up at different houses was chatting with the homeowners. Each of them expressed genuine gratitude and somehow remained optimistic in an extremely hard time. I was inspired by how they continued to put a smile on their face and work to provide for their families. Some of my best laughs were during conversations with homeowners. It felt odd to laugh with them in a time like this, but laughing together seemed refreshing for both sides.
This week it clicked with me - the best way to build relationships is by serving together. While serving with other volunteers, we grew close quickly. They expressed excitement about our mission and took interest in our lives. Two specific volunteers we grew closest with were Marc and Ricky, who ended up taking us under their wing. Marc took us out for an amazing steak dinner and bought us bus snacks/drinks. Ricky’s family made us a home-cooked meal and showed us around his office (the fire station). We are excited to work with Ricky this next week as he is planning to come to our next stop and volunteer there.
At the end of the week, we spent two nights in a row with the Reichel’s, our initial connection and guardian angels for the week! Every day they checked in on us and Matt let us use his truck to do our work orders because the majority of the houses would have been very tough to get to in our bus (our bus is BIG). Right away, we felt so comfortable with the Reichel’s. When we pulled up for dinner Friday night, Reese (8) and Palmer (7) greeted us with their new cheer performance and Tripp (4) greeted us with a strong high 5! The kids continued to impress us with letters, pictures and other crafts they gifted to us. The one word we used to describe the Reichel family is joyful, not only are they joyful but they so easily bring joy to others and we were so refreshed by their presence. We ended up parking the bus at their house Saturday night and all drove together in the bus to Church Sunday morning. We were excited for Palmer to get to live out her dream of being in an RV with curtains in front of the beds. The Reichel’s were our last goodbye in Wauchula and we felt weirdly emotional when leaving them …weird because we had known them for such a short amount of time but it had the impact of a lifetime.
Comparing vehicles with Ricky
Ribeye’s, gator bites, and frog legs with the boys (Marc and Ricky)
Robby worked with us Tuesday .. the day before his baby was due!
The Reichel family!
What a fun ride to church in the bus with the Reichel’s!
Thank you Reese and Palmer for the posters!
Buccee gang at the football game
3. We experienced generosity like never before
As I write this I realize all my points might be a little redundant and all are connected in some way … Talking to guys who had been on the previous LOST Bus, they expressed how generous Americans are. Often, I do not believe things until I experience them myself, but I did not expect to experience this so quickly. We went throughout the week without having to pay for a meal. SMM prepared us meals during the day, people took us out or cooked us meals at night, people covered our gas, offered showers and we received other donations from Wauchula locals. We arrived into town expecting to give what we had away to help others, but it seemed like by the time we left we had more than we arrived with. Most of all we appreciated the loving presence of those we interacted with. Leaving Wauchula, we feel so filled up and encouraged by the people who cared for us after knowing us for such a short amount of time. Talking to guys who had been on the previous LOST Bus, they expressed how generous Americans are. I now understand this on a personal level.
Marc bought us snacks/drinks for the bus!
Ricky bought us Florida hats to keep the sun away
Davis in his other Florida hat gifted by Marc. Less sun protection more style points
While we were debriefing Sunday, Cain expressed a very clear thought about our first stop. This is a journal entry from him earlier in the week: “It’s only been half a day of serving so far but I can already feel the paradigm shift from focusing on “me” to now all of the sudden our focus and efforts are on others and there is no material benefit to us. For the Last 9 months our main objective was building the bus and it was an inherently self-centered routine as we would be the future beneficiaries of all our efforts. Now our needs are met and in a matter of 24 hours, like a switch, our routine and efforts are directed towards the benefit of others. I can feel the difference in the attitude shift and I can’t really describe it, but all I know is the latter is good for the soul and I think it is how we are intended to live our lives.”
This first week was truly amazing, and it makes me even more excited for what is to come.
Tonight (Sunday) we spend our first night in Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte area and will serve the community here for the following week (thanks to a connection from Wauchula).
