The first day we went to town, nine days after the storm hit, we hung out at a relief site for several hours and used their free Wi-Fi. This was our first opportunity to connect with the outside world via email and phone, so we focused on reaching out to friends and family.
There were tables laden with canned and boxed foods, baby supplies, pet food and other goods. While we were there, trucks delivered more. I could not begin to count how many cases of water they had.
We didn’t need much, so we took a bag of potato chips, a pack of Oreos, and some granola bars. In hindsight, I could have used a propane canister. They had a few, but I didn’t grab one. They were gone when we came back the next week.
Then our friends delivered two boxes of food to us, much of it things we would not buy and would not normally eat. We cringed a little, but we knew they meant well, so we accepted them. They also did some grocery shopping for us, filling in the blank spots with fresh vegetables and dairy products.
Hot Meals
The following Thursday, we went back to town and stopped at the same place to use their Wi-Fi. While we were there, the woman in charge of the relief center brought us hot meals in to go boxes. I asked, “Are you sure someone else doesn’t need these more than we do?” She assured us she had more meals than people. It was only 3:30, so we took them home, where we reheated and ate them later. It was pork loin, and it was pretty good. We found out later that it had been prepared by the Red Cross.
But I still felt guilty, or maybe embarrassed. We weren’t hungry. We needed communications, not food. Not only did we have lots of food at home, we had a way to cook our own hot meals, which many did not. Because we were working to empty our freezer, we were eating things like salmon and New York strip steak for dinner, and we had fresh eggs every day for breakfast. (We have given away at least 15 dozen eggs since the storm started.)
Earlier this week, we made our third foray into town to drop off our trash at the so-called convenience center and to sign up for volunteers. While we were at the volunteer center, the Red Cross brought us two more hot meals. I tried to decline—it was 2 p.m. and we had already eaten lunch—and my wife said, “Pete has a hard time accepting help.” No, that’s not it. I am happy to accept the help we need, but I am less willing to accept help we don’t really need. My biggest fear is that by taking a meal, someone else will go hungry.
Too Many Donations?
Then we heard on the radio that the area had so many donations and they were running out of places to store things. They were trying to get donated items out of the schools so they could reopen, and the county emergency management people were encouraging folks to take advantage of the largess of strangers who had donated so much food, diapers, and other supplies.
“Save your money for home repairs,” read a Facebook post. “Come by one of relief centers and pick up food there rather than going to the grocery store. Make a list and we’ll help you fill it.”
Since we are looking at somewhere up towards $10,000 in repair costs, we decided to take them up on their offer and save money where we could. As long as we aren’t taking something someone else needs, we’ll do some “shopping.” We’ll also pick up some items for our neighbor who evacuated so that when he comes back, he’ll have food in his cupboard.
Relief Center Visit
The closest relief center was a school gymnasium filled with pallets of soft goods, paper products, clothing, and tables loaded with food and supplies. More items were stuffed on top of the bleachers, which were pushed back out of the way.
As I have complained before, there was a tremendous amount of junk food and very little canned meat. There were cases of Pop Tarts, granola bars, and various breakfast bars and protein bars. There were chips and popcorn. But there were also tables ready to collapse because canned goods were stacked three or four high. I saw some canned chicken and lots of peanut butter, both of which I consider good items for your prepper pantry as long as you rotate the peanut butter every year.
My wife and I had each brought in a shopping bag and we picked out what we wanted. I ended up with two cans of chunky soup, a box of peanut butter biscuits, and three “heater meals,” which are a civilian version of an MRE. We each also grabbed a roll of paper towels because we were running low on them.
The woman in charge was an acquaintance. My wife asked her if they had hand warmers, the kind you stick in your gloves on a wintry day. “Check the camping room,” she said. Camping room? We didn’t know they had a camping room. She pointed it out, and we found the hand warmers. They also had sleeping bags and tents. We accepted what I would consider a high-quality military surplus blanket that was 70 percent wool as we find these useful.
I know a young woman who is pregnant with her second child, and I want to tell her to go out and get all the free diapers and formula she can.
Pride
My wife found work gloves, the same brand and size I like. Since I have worn a hole in my gloves on the finger of my right hand and the thumb of my left, I was happy to take a pair. “Take two,” said the volunteer, pushing a second one on me. I expressed concern I was taking too much. “Please,” she said, “we have more than we need.” And as we were leaving, soldiers from the 101st Airborne were unloading another truck of incoming goods. (Thank you Screaming Eagles!)
When we walked out with our bags, no one asked our name, tried to verify that we lived in the county, or checked off what we had. I am not against helping people who need it, but if you ask me, these relief centers are ripe for abuse.
I know the locals are a proud and independent folk, and while they are happy to help each other out, they are not big fans of “outsiders.” But without outsiders, no one would have been airlifted out, search and rescue efforts would have taken weeks instead of days, and more people would have died from a lack of medical attention. So if those folks in the Midwest and other parts who are lucky enough not to get hurricanes want to send us some food and diapers, I’m no longer going to say no. My wife and I have donated to charities and volunteered for years; maybe it is time we let others donate to us.
If a few outsiders with chains saw show up, sent by the volunteer center, I’ll be happy to point them in the right direction and work at their side.
Addendum
We had snow earlier this week, as well as sleet, freezing rain and then rain. It wasn’t much snow, and it melted off by noon, but it seemed to come early this year. It was also a reminder that while we were snug in our bed, under a thick down comforter with a fire in our wood stove heating the house, there were still a few thousand people in cold houses without power or heat. I hope most had a wood stove or at least a fireplace, but I am sure many in mobile homes did not.
