Hurricane Katrina - Day 1

It has been a while since my last post and a lot has gone on in my life, but I will have to share that stuff at another time...

As you all are aware, Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast (AL, MS, and LA) early last week. Not only did the winds do tremendous damage as the Category 4 storm hit shore, but it also made a near direct hit on New Orleans, which we are all aware of now, was surrounded by levies that would only protect it from a Category 3. The devastation and the number of people who have suffered is greater than any tragedy that this country has seen in a long time and it is definitely the greatest tragedy of my lifetime. As I watched this tragedy unfold on every news channel, I wondered what it was that I could do. Morgan and I spoke about it several times, but felt that the only thing we could do was give money (which is not a little thing to do, they need lots of money). So, when my dad called and said that he had opened his camp in Panama City Beach as a shelter and needed some help I felt that was someone (upstairs) trying to tell me something. Fortunately for me, my managers were very understanding about the situation on such short notice and allowed me to take the time to come down here and help.

For those of you who don't know, my dad is a Presbytery Executive for Nurture for the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley. Basically that means he runs all of the camps, conferences, and retreats for the Presbyterian Churches in the middle portion of the state of Alabama. The Presbytery that he works for owns a camp, Gulftreat, that is located 2 blocks from the beach in beautiful Panama City Beach, Florida. I grew up coming to this camp, have worked at this camp as a counselor in college, and have attended this camp as an adult chaperone for youth groups. The camp backs up to a Presbyterian Church called Gulf Beach Presbyterian Church. The Presbytery that my dad works for is in the process of raising over $20 million to build a new camp on the Cahaba River closer to the churches in Alabama. As part of that process, Gulftreat has been sold to Gulf Beach Presbyterian and the presbytery is currently leasing the camp back from the church until the new camp in Alabama is built. So, the church down here owns the camp, but my dad runs it. This makes for a unique dynamic as both parties wanted to open the camp as a shelter for Katrina Victims.

All of that is a long way of saying that essentially the church (Gulf Beach) is running a shelter out of the camp (Gulftreat) that they own but that they have no experience of dealing with or running. The buildings are old and there are all sorts of things that need fixing and that is where I come in. My dad needed someone here that knows the camp and that can keep the camp programs in mind as decisions about changing the camp are made. So, essentially I am dealing with all of the things that are broken at the camp; hot water leaks, broken showers, broken toilets, broken A/C, broken refrigerator, broken sprinkler system, etc. I have become the 'handy man' and general contractor of the shelter. Tons of fun.

Anyways, most of the people who are staying here are from the New Orleans area. They are mostly blue collar, working class people and each of them is either actively looking for a job here in Panama City or is helping around the camp. These people have lost everything, but they are all motivated individuals who will survive and will get through this tragedy. Some of them were staying in hotels previously and either got kicked out for Holiday weekend reservations or were maxing out their credit cards. I haven't had much time to interact, but they are all very thankful for what we are doing and most of them are feeling thankful that they are alive. Their courage during this tragedy is amazing. I can only hope that if I ever have this kind of tragedy in my life that I can handle it with half as much courage and optimism.

More tomorrow, now it is sleepy time ...zzzzz