Yesterday was the Carnival of HOPE that some of the local churches put on for the evacuees living at the River Center Shelter. It was amazing! It was such a joy to be a part of. My responsibility was to be at the volunteer check in desk for most of the day helping to plug volunteers into the various roles they could play in the event. It was an event that could not happen without scores of volunteers and the city of Baton Rouge arose to the challenge. We had over 200 volunteers out on the levee that day helping out with everything from setting up to cooking to just walking around and talking to people. Even the stories of how people came to volunteer wasso touching. God really had his hand on this event and it is evident in these stories.- One man was at the YMCA where there was a sign about the carnival and he decided to walk down to see if we needed help.
- Another man was at the gas station that morning and began talking to one of the pastors of the church who told him about the event and invited him to join in. He showed up at stayed for several hours.
- A couple of teachers from the Baton Rouge public school system had recieved an email forwarded on by one of the members of First Pres.
- One very special volunteer named Robert was one of the children living in the shelter that we were putting the carnival on for who came to the table to see how he could help. He became the official nametag maker and my new friend.
It was amazing to see the contrast between the before and after pictures of the levee area. The couple of days before it was a barren green park area where kids were using cardboard boxes to slide down the hill, and on Saturday it was a color-filled playland for both children and adults.
As I was walking around I saw a man who was volunteering showing two little boys from the shelter how to throw a glider plane so it would catch the wind and soar down the hill. Over and over, the boys would throw the glider down the hill, run down and get the plane, run back up to the man, get some more instruction, and then begin the process again. They were delighted with their new toy and with their new friend.
We had purchesed 1000 hamburgers, 1000 hotdogs, and 2000 buns for the event. And as you can see from the picture on the left, the food line was always full! No one went hungry as we even had a little bit left over. After talking to some of the kids and serving a meal over at the shelter myself, I know that what they are eating (like food in the dining hall) is good, but gets old after a while. The chance to get something different was welcomed by all.
We had stored all the supplies for the event in the garage where were have been taking donations and sorting them for distribution, so when we left for the Carnival the garage had been pretty much emptied out. We had taken and passed out all of the bottled water that we had collected as well as a lot of books, toys, toilettries and other things that had been donated. By the time that we got back to the church to unload someone had dropped of a carload of clothes and other supplies along with a cart stacked four feet high of bottled water!
One of the church members also brought back to the church a family that has been staying at the River Center shelter for the past 9 days. They lived had been living with family in an area that is now completely underwater and they had lost everything. The family consisted of a mother and three teenage daughters. They were in immediate need of some additional clothing which were were able to provide for them. Longer term, the member of the church that had brought them over, Liz, feels called to adopt them and make sure that their needs are being met and to find some housing for them.
I know that I keep telling these stories about the individual families and people that we have met and interacted with...but that is the story that I see is missing from the news coverage. I really have not had time to watch the news lately, but the little I hear, it's about the death toll and the rebuilding and the mistakes that were made. But each person that has survived this storm has a story...and these stories are filled with hope and provision and survival and life!
See the post below for more pictures from the Carnival!
