Tuesday, June 16th
Our second day of work started bright and early with breakfast at 8:00 a.m. Then we took a long ride in the van to the city of Boone at the Hunger and Health Coalition. When we got to the wood lot, we met a sweet old man named Harold who had been running it for 17 years. The team split off into two groups; one went to break apart logs, and the other went to install insulation for a home that had flooded.
The Log group, which was made up of Ellie, Sadie, Ben, Ryan, and Julene, was tasked with using a splitter to cut large logs into usable firewood. We were guided by a man named Kade, who told us how to use the splitter without losing any fingers or toes. Ryan and Julene used the splitter, Ben and Kade loaded the splitters, and Sadie and Ellie transported the cut wood to the cut wood pile. No two logs were alike. Some were wet, some were thick, and some were even shaped kind of like a pizza. No log was easy, although some were way harder than others, but they all got cut. During our break, we talked with Harold about the wood lot. Harold had lost his wife 25 years ago, and this year would have been their 70th anniversary. Harold misses his wife very much, and he now dedicates his life to helping the community of Boone. Harold still tries to help as much as possible, even to the point where Kade must convince him not to hurt himself and let a stronger person do it. After all the logs were cut, we had to transfer new logs to the splitter for the next group to cut. With the help of a police officer named Scott, we moved all the logs to the splitters. After we were done, we drank Gatorade and drove to the insulation camp.
The insulators were Annika, Erynn, Esmie, Lily, Micah, Lea, and Jonathan. Our goal was to completely insulate the underside of a house that flooded in the storm. The insulation was pink, and both looked and smelled like cotton candy. Getting it under the house proved to be very difficult, as there was just about enough room to army crawl down there. Not to mention, we needed to wear hazmat suits in order not to get horrible rashes from the fiberglass. It was hot, wet, and buggy with lots of giant spiders that made Erynn very scared. Everybody else didn’t really mind them, though, and besides, it felt good to power through this difficult and uncomfortable working situation. We also got tons of amazing photos of our quite fashionable suits. In the end, we only insulated half of the house due to a leak that was pooling water underneath it. However, this work really allowed us to see the care and determination that people in this area show every single day as they clean things up one step at a time.
After the work was done in both camps, we headed on a quick detour along the Blue Ridge Parkway. There were multiple scenic overlooks that gave us a spectacular view of the mountains. We also visited a beautiful manor overlooking the mountains, which was surrounded by park paths and horses. After eating dinner, we got to enjoy a delightfully surprising animal show and ice cream social. To end the night, we did devotions in which we reflected upon seeing God in both the beauty and the struggles of this long and fruitful day. Thank you to the Prince of Peace congregation for making all this possible!
Cheers!! – Micah and Ben
