Rescue and Relief - Brian Beaver

The majority of the Redlands football team, including myself, Bryan Beaver, traveled to Louisiana to do our community service. More specifically, we stayed in Chalmette, Louisiana, at the Hilltop Rescue and Relief headquarters, which is about 15 miles southeast of New Orleans.

The Hilltop Rescue and Relief headquarters is located in the area that was hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina. Upon arrival at about 11 p.m., the first thing everyone noticed was the humidity of the south. But more importantly, as we drove down the streets without any street lights, there was only a hint of the things that I could not see in the darkness. The next day I would discover what those things were.

The Hilltop Rescue and Relief organization was originally preparing for the big earthquake that is supposed to hit California. Help was needed in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina, so they set up headquarters there to help those victims.

Headquarters are located at Rowland Middle School in Chalmette, Louisiana, just off the St. Bernard Highway. It is a two- story school, with equipment and food stored on the first level and living quarters set up on the second level.

Hilltop Rescue and Relief is a Church of Christ-based organization. We had devotionals at 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. each day to reflect on what we had experienced and hoped to accomplish. I believe that this was a great way to help remind us why we were in Louisiana. The head chaplain led discussions that made us think about the role of a servant and how to help those who were in need, specifically the victims of the hurricane. This trip took my physical, emotional and spiritual limits to the maximum.

When we learned that we had to get up for breakfast at 6 a.m. for two weeks, we were not happy at all. But getting up that early was child’s play in terms of the physical toughness required throughout the trip.

The Hilltop organization provides volunteers to help families restore their homes following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. As volunteers, our job was to gut out as many homes as possible. This meant entering homes that had not been touched for eight months, removing everything in the home, and stripping it down to the baseboards. It sounds a lot easier than it was. Most homes endured about 9-11 feet of standing water following the hurricane. Items and furniture floated randomly around the house and were moved from their normal positions. Mud covered the floors of the homes.

After a few days, we established a specific routine for attacking the homes in order to clean them out as quickly as possible. First, we moved out all of the big furniture to create room for a group of 10 volunteers to easily maneuver around the house. Then we shoveled all of the mud from the floors, dumping it into wheelbarrows and taking it outside. If there was carpet or tile, we took it all out. Once the floors were stripped down to cement, we knocked out the drywall and removed the insulation. With three people working steadily, this process took about three hours in each room. We piled all of the furniture, appliances, and debris outside onto the street.

This process was vigorous on the body. Except for hiking Half Dome in Yosemite in one day, I had never been so tired in my whole life. My hands were beyond sore from shoveling, wheel-barreling, and using a crowbar and hammer. We were required to wear masks to protect ourselves from the invading moss in the homes. Breathing was hard at times. I lost 10 pounds on this trip.

Although it was very hard physically, I felt prepared due to the football training I had been doing. My physical fatigue and soreness was a sacrifice I was willing to make to help these families.

The whole experience was very humbling. I never really noticed how many material items I have until I saw the devastation that the families went through. Most families lost everything. I remember working on one house that had about 5000 comic books in it, all damaged. I can’t imagine losing all of my sports cards. I realized that I take my material possessions for granted. I was put in my place when I heard some of the stories of survival and devastation from the elderly homeowners. They had lost everything but were still content because they still had their lives and their families.

Most of us learned that it is not about the riches and wealth we store up but the relationships we make. We all bonded in this experience, and I believe it is going to pay off in our lives, both on and off the football field.