So you turn on CNN these days and what do you see? Talking heads yelling over each other about two people who want to lead this country. You know what you don't see much of? The fact that a few weeks ago, about half of the state of Louisiana got over 30 inches of rain in 24 hours and that (most conservative estimate) 40,000 homes were flooded and though not destroyed by an 8 ft. tall wall of water or hurricane force winds, nonetheless we have a bunch of families who are hurting. Efforts are being made all around the country of people sending truckloads of donated supplies to the area, which mostly is a big help. What would give these homeowners a bigger sense of hope that recovery is on the way would be for there to be "boots on the ground". This past weekend, by boss Brandon Kasteler joined about 500 members of his church and worked the weekend "mucking out" houses that had been flooded. He said it was very well organized. Each team got about 4 homes to gut and worked together with the homeowners who would say what to chuck and what to keep. One of the worst situations that occurs after a flood is that mold will begin forming behind the soaked drywall and insulation, and the Mucking out process removes, typically, the bottom four feet of drywall and insulation.  This debris is hauled to the curb and this allows the house framing to dry out and be treated for mold before putting back new materials. The biggest thing this does though is shows the homeowner families that they are not alone, that people care and that there is hope for the rebuilding of their home and their lives.
I will be driving down this labor day weekend to help and would invite anyone who feels the call (Here I am, Lord, send me!) to contact me 703-568-7783 or peter@salemme.net email. Let's roll.