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Saturday, April 7, 2007

EASTER SERVICE

Today is Easter Sunday.

We just got word that there was a village of thousands that was washed out by a flood. The priority for them is food, blankets, and essential clothing. We got a rush delivery of food and blankets last week. I was part of a group yesterday that reconned the area and formulated our distribution plan.

The next step was to get the items separated and loaded onto trucks for delivery. That's the hard part.

I posted signs all around the camp telling volunteers to report at 0700 if they wanted to help organize the goods. I set the time so early because there are several activities planned for Easter, such as a basketball tournament, movies, etc.

Of course, there were many "nay-sayers" who told me that no one would ever show up that early on their day off. I silently crossed my fingers and hoped that I was right and they were wrong.

I was right. About thirty people showed up. Air Force, Army, Navy and coalition all chipped in to help.

Thanks to my mom for sending me the extra strong trash bags. They were perfect for the heavy sacks of wheat, flour, rice and beans.

As you can imagine, this can be a daunting task. Organization and manpower are the keys to getting this done efficiently.

This entire operation took 2 1/2 hours. Not bad for unloading the connexes, sorting the food, sorting the clothing, putting them in separate bags and loading the trucks.

We are now ready for our mission. We should be able to help at least 100 families.

Unfortunately there was no chapel held at Camp Alamo today.

Nevertheless, I think we had the best Easter "Service" ever.