Working with Red Cross and the Baptists in Beaumont, TX

Where to start where to start..well we finally have Internet so I am able to jot this down! We have been busy busy down here in Texas! Last Monday we flew out of Chattanooga to Dallas. Spent two nights at a staff shelter there, commuted to the headquarters, helped whatever they needed help with there, which was pretty boring in fact, finally got our assignment last Wednesday and then drove the 6 hrs down here to Beaumont. PHEW...Once we arrived there were a bunch of "cambros" that needed to be washed (red big tubs where we store the food in for our mass feeding assignment) and then we were assigned our own team room. This Baptist church we are at is quite big and nice. There are Baptists from Texas and Michigan here as well as many Red Cross volunteers from all over. Obviously, we are the YOUNGEST people here and we are called "kids." So it's kind of funny, having to listen to all the old people's jokes all the time, etc. But we all like them so far. We had four people in charge, but two have left and two are about to leave and be replaced. Our Kitchen manager, Ray, or known as "Lieutenant Dan" (he calls himself that because he lost one of his legs in an accident and now walks on a fake one) will probably be leaving soon or be replaced by this new man, Jim, because he is too stressed out and can't take it anymore. Our ERV coordinator (Emergency Response Vehicle) has lost his voice and has become sick, so Red Cross is sending him back home, unless he gets better and they let him back. His name was Jason, also known as "Erv." So at this mass feeding preparing shelter, we all basically hall huge pallets of stuff out and in of trucks, make the food in huge pots in the outdoor kitchen in the parking lot, clean everything, run around like crazy, cook breakfast in the indoor kitchen, clean the bathrooms, etc, etc, etc. Anything that they need basically, my team is on it. I can't tell you the number of thanks we have gotten over and over again. We have only been here since Wednesday, and it is Monday...I think my highest number of hours worked in one day has been 14.5, with the lowest being 10.5. Today I got up and cooked breakfast, I am known as the pancake queen because I add extra ingredients to the bland pancake batter...fun times....give me my batter, my flipper and some music and I will zone out...especially since I'm not much of a morning person to begin with...This morning I felt like I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off because I couldn't find a stupid dust pan. No one has cleaned out the top of the stove where we make pancakes, etc, and it caught on fire this morning and two people were tossing flour on it like it was nothing...so I had tons of flour to clean up later. I got to go out on my first ERV two days ago. An ERV is a Red Cross truck with a window where we put everything we make into clam-shell trays and serve it to the hungry people. Some ERVs are moving ERVs, and go from community to community, but some remain in one place. I served 127 people dinner one night while I was on the ERV...chili, crackers, a fruit cup, and cookies. The mass food we make here isn't very good, I'm not going to lie, but Red Cross has also given us debit cards where we can spend up to $33 a day, which is only for food, laundry, and gas. Let's see what am I forgetting..oh ya I've been taking food to the staff that work at an animal shelter almost everyday. There are just hundreds of dogs and some cats/kittens that have been found and are staying there. I'm assuming most of them were found, not so sure how many have been claimed yet, but its sad and fun at the same time. Yesterday I took out a puppy black lab, which was the size of half my four arm...so cute. Oh ya, The food that we make and serve in the cambro's have to remain above 140 degrees, so it is cooked at 160 and the temperature must be taken frequently. ERV people are also not allowed to serve or open the back of their truck, in case of an attack or emergency. Last week on the second day of going out on the ERVs a truck of women were attacked by a person who jumped in through the back of the vehicle and had a six inch blade on him. But most of the neighborhoods we've been taking the food to aren't as bad as that. As for the community, power is in some places and not in others. The day before we arrived there was no hot water..so things have been picking up, and I'm not too sure on other statistics or communities, but I know that the other day we fed 1600 meals, and the meals are increasing. It's also frustrating because everything we use is thrown out, nothing is recycled! We have boxes and boxes of stuff, tons of clam-shell trays, tons of plastic silver wear and napkins, tons of water bottles that all end up in the dumpster. Apparently they're not very GREEN here in Texas, who knows..That is my update so far. We are suppose to be here until Oct. 7, but that could always change. Hopefully we will get to go back to TN and enjoy the fall like we planned on.