Flood Relief

The week of May 7th was mainly spent at the church. We were asked to accept donations for the flood victims as the church that normally has the clothing closet was flooded so they did not have the ability to help the community.  The decision was made to accept donations of small household items, clothing, hygiene items and much more for 1 day only. Originally they thought about accepting donations for 2/3 days but very wisely decided to back it up to one day only.  It was the goal to have the families affected by the flood come in for 2 days and everyone felt it needed to be done in a timely manner. Sitting back and witnessing the generosity of the community as well as the many many volunteers who scrambled to sort through and put this all together was amazing.  I have often wondered how we could do more in our community to serve the less fortunate and this opportunity was just the thing.  I will say that the ability of people to give so much in one day makes me realize just how much greater a capability we have as a society to help the fortunate.  I see no reason at all that anyone should go through those tough times alone. During the initial days of the recovery efforts, the community pulled together and really did what had to be done.  We had people in our community who needed that extra hand or not to worry about where lunch was coming from. I felt God's presence through everything and tremendous amount of greatness in the City of Madison and surrounding areas residence.  I had the pleasure of taking Thursday off of work to help at the church while some of the families came through the doors.  I had the opportunity to visit with them, hear their individual stories and hardships.  It was super humbling but strangely rewarding at the same time to be able to be the light in such a dark place.

Some of the donations

Amazing!

All in all the week was an awesome opportunity to not only see the individuals of Madison helping each other, but also the different organizations coming together to serve.  Sadly, it was quickly realized that it was a short lived victory, but it was still a positive none the less.  It seemed as quickly as organizations were all in, they were all out just as quickly.  It didn't take long for the same ole, same ole to take place and by this I mean there was a whole lot of back pedaling going on shortly after the donation drive.  I do believe intentions were good initially but they fell short in the long run.  I guess people just aren't ready for the no strings attached, because it is God's way.  I could really get going on this, so I will stop there!