401 E. Piankishaw, Paola, KS 66071     Phone:  913.294.3476     Fax:  913.294.0074

SonShine Preschool

Choosing service over vacation on spring break

By Brian McCauley, bmccauley@miconews.com

First Lutheran Church of Paola volunteers (from left) Dee Young, Barrett Young, Samantha Oberg and Matthew Brandt use shovels to put out a grass fire in Greensburg during spring break. The fire was ignited by falling welding sparks from the nearby construction of a water tower.

When Wayne Young and his fellow volunteers from First Lutheran Church in Paola first pulled into Greensburg, on March 15, one thought crossed their minds — devastation.

Mangled trees stripped of their bark lined the barren landscape, which was spotted with tents for volunteers and the occasional new house under construction.

Determined to spend their spring break making a difference, the group set up camp in the tornado-ravaged town from March 15 to 22, and although they only made a dent in the devastation by helping to build a new home, the trip completely changed their view of the town.

“The devastation was still there when we left, but it (the volunteer work) made a difference in what we saw. We saw good. We saw rebuilding,” Young said.

Rebuilding was the theme for the group throughout the week as they tackled the daunting task of constructing a new home for a couple who couldn’t afford to rebuild it themselves.

The rebuilding effort was set up by Lutheran Disaster Relief through the South Central Kansas Tornado Recovery Organization, Young said. The organization matched the group of 22 volunteers from Paola with about 25 more volunteers from as far away as Oklahoma and California to work on the home. The task was just one of many in a town that saw more than 300 people volunteer during spring break, Young said.

When the group from First Lutheran arrived, the home already had walls up with a basic roof, although only tar paper had been installed. Young said the walls were built using styrofoam with concrete in the middle to provide insulation and protection from the elements.

“A tornado won’t blow that house down,” he said.

The Paola group focused on installing a water line, doors, windows and siding, Young said, although the occasional side task also would arise.

The city was constructing a new water tower just across the street from the group’s house site, and occasionally the sparks from the welding would start some nearby dry grass on fire.

The Paola volunteers were quick to find a new use for their shovels, as they smothered the fires with some well-placed wallops.

The week was far from uneventful, as the winds of Greensburg lived up to their reputation by blowing away one of the group’s tents, which were anchored with cement blocks.

“It ended up in the John Deere dealership,” Young said with a laugh. “We slept in the community building.”

Young described the town as being filled with more volunteers than residents, who were living in a group of about 300 trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in an area south of town that the locals called “FEMAville.”

The future owners of the house under construction did stop by each day to give their thanks, Young said.  “The whole town was very appreciative. They were very willing to admit that they’d be nothing without the volunteers,” he said.

“The devastation was still there when we left, but the volunteer work made a difference in what we saw. We saw good. We saw rebuilding,”