Embrace the Unplanned

Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a planner. I love nothing more than a well-laid plan. Many times serving others can be well-planned out, but other times needs arise at a moment's notice. Often the most urgent needs are unplanned.

Sep 27, 2024 — Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a massive Category 4 hurricane and was the deadliest mainland hurricane since Katrina in 2005. The majority of the attention was placed on where the storm made landfall due to the wind and surge. However, the devastation with Helene was much more widespread with some of the hardest hit regions being hundreds of miles inland and in the mountains. Having recently relocated to the Carolinas, the devastation we saw in Western North Carolina was heartbreaking and hit close to home. This was one of our new favorite getaways. It was the perfect escape from the summer heat, to see the fall colors, or to go on some amazing hikes. The beautiful, quaint small mountain towns were devasted and needed help.

I tried to volunteer and help with the clean-up, but help was restricted due to the direness of the situation. Instead, we donated and brought supplies to locations where they were coordinating air drops. It was a helpless feeling as more and more pictures flowed in and the death toll continued to rise.

About a week after the hurricane, I received an email from my pastor asking for volunteers to help with the clean-up in Augusta, GA. I was not aware that Augusta had much damage, but I was eager to help in any way. Early Monday morning on October 7th, nearly 10 days since Helene hit, eight of us loaded up equipment into two trucks and headed off to Augusta, not exactly sure what to expect.

Arriving in Augusta as the sun was just coming up, I could not believe my eyes. It was just pure devastation. What was once beautiful tree-lined streets were now streets lined with piles of debris. About half the trees were ripped up at the roots and the other half were sheared off. We wove through the city trying to get to our destination, driving over power lines, around downed trees, streetlights, and stoplights. Streets were littered with smashed cars with the backdrop of beautiful southern homes crushed by 100-year-old pines. It was ten days after the storm went through and the majority of the city still did not have power.

We finally arrived at our destination. We were going to help two young families that were next-door neighbors. Between them, they had seven kids under the age of eight. When we met them you could just see and feel the stress. One house had 5 trees fall on it and had over 20 trees down. The other house had one tree hit it and another on their car. The tree fell right on their eight-year-old daughter's bedroom. Her dad had recommended that she sleep in the twin bed away from the window since there was the risk of storms that night. This horrible situation could have been so much worse if not for that last-minute decision. Hearing their stories was incredibly moving. They went to bed knowing that storms from Helene would hit overnight, but never expecting the horrors that awoke them. Despite all the stress and devastation, you could tell that both families felt grateful that everyone was safe.

Our team was able to help these two families a little bit, but this help pales in comparison to the impact this experience had on me. This very easily could have been my family. These storms could have shifted 50 miles to the East and hit us in Fort Mill, SC. If this happened to me, I would have been so grateful for people to come and help. This opportunity was not planned and it could have been easy to let the business of everyday life get in the way of truly making an impact during a time of dire need. As I strive to Live Altruistically, this was a great reminder to embrace agility as opportunities to serve arise.