December 8, 2007 - Vernonia, OR Floods

We have arrived in Vernonia, OR. We wasted no time getting here, and the trip was long. Seth and I kept on switching out driving since he has a CDL. Toward the end of the 30-hour trip we were doing a few hours each just because we were so tired. A trip like that—after working 8 weeks straight—was tiring to say the least. Thank God Tim was there to keep us up. His positive attitude and love for the next adventure ahead of us in the Pacific Northwest was contagious.

We arrived in Vernonia, once a beautiful little town along a river. Now, there was mud everywhere and a chill was in the air. The houses were still standing but everything in them was destroyed. 750 out of 1000 homes were completely flooded. Everything the people owned was lost, including their food. Many people were pulling everything out of their homes and laying them on the street for the eventual pickup of debris. We can help out here with cleaning up the streets full of debris.

As Seth, Tim, and I were walking along the streets by the river looking for those in need, a lady pulled up and said, “Can you boys help me bring these heavy bags of dog food into that schoolhouse?” We agreed and moments later we walked right into what would be Vernonia’s temporary food bank. There were two ladies there who received the dog food and thanked us for the donation. I immediately asked what this one small room of canned food was and a young girl explained that this was the new makeshift food bank. The original food bank was destroyed in the disaster and everything was lost—food, checkbooks, ledgers, etc. Before the flood this food bank fed 20% of this city, and now there will be much more in need—in dire need.

She went on to explain that the OR food banks were already struggling this year. She shared how the people in her town don’t have meat, milk, cheese, or even pots and pans. The floods brought in farm animal waste that contaminated the homes and even the pots and pans were covered in toxic debris. I stepped outside the old building along the now calm river and made a few phone calls. Within one hour David Kieser, president of the Midwest Food Bank, agreed to send out a tractor trailer to aid the city of Vernonia. David has special relief packages of full startup kits for families who have lost everything. They have pots, pans, towels, cleaning supplies and food. He is also going to send frozen food, meats etc.

I’ve got to tell you, this was the first time I have ever been put in this position. I have never had to help in a situation like this one before – to simply provide food for people in dire need, and it felt good. It was amazing. I’m thankful for my connections, and I’m thankful people trust me enough to send out trucks.

I will never forget standing in the cold night in that small town of Vernonia, with the mountains surrounding us, and knowing that help was on the way to feed these people. So many of the reports that I got were that Vernonia was stable but it looks like that information was incorrect. I’m glad we decided to come here. Times like this make all we do worth it.