Day 3 - On the Job

One of the things I liked a lot about Hilltop Rescue was that things were organized. On the trip down, I had no idea how well-oiled the operation would be, since I'd heard rumors of things not being as organized early after Hurricane Katrina. One of the things that helped things stay in order was the policy concerning volunteers--each day, a volunteer from each group was asked to stay behind at the Rowley Elementary School. This created a pool of workers to handle cleaning, cooking, and handling upkeep on the school grounds.

I joined this group and was put to work immediately after the morning devotional. We cleaned the tables in the cafeteria, arranged the chairs, then swept the floor. The cafeteria isn't connected to the main building, so it has its own air conditioning--through a boarded-up exit where tubes and machinery softly rumble. I had to get a mop from the main building, and on my way across the parking lot to get there, I broke out a full-body sweat.

I had barely started working. I realized I'd have to get used to this, because I might be working on houses tomorrow.

At about 10 A.M., after I had helped by cleaning one bathroom upstairs, a truck delivered supplies to the kitchen. I got involved in dish washing after solving the problem of getting cooked-on scrambled egg residue off the industrial-sized cooking pans. Jenny (the head cook) found out about my success (I scraped the pans with a heavy-duty metal spatula), and asked if she could keep me for the week. I told her that was up to the rest of the people in my group.

I continued washing dishes for the rest of the day. Some of the same dishes I saw clean came back dirty a few minutes later, got washed, then got dirty right after that. I soon understood why there was a janitor's sink in the kitchen. I started filling it with soapy water when another volunteer joined me. We pressed on, satisfying the demand for clean dishes. Dinner for the day was spaghetti--in massive quantities, boiled outside over a propane flame, in a pot big enough for me to squat inside.

We got done just in time to help serve dinner. With over 400 people at Hilltop Rescue this week, serving dinner took quite a while. Everybody loved the spaghetti, though, even me.

After evening devotional, I helped empty the giant spaghetti pot. One of the people from our bus load of volunteers helped me carry it outside and dump it. It was half-full of water and was very heavy. When we dumped it out, it was still as heavy as it was when it was full! Back in the kitchen, I used a spray hose to add water to the pot, and (almost) had to use a mop to clean it. I found a scrub brush (like a bottle brush for washing dishes) could do the job. But what could I use to rinse the soapy water out of the pot?

I jokingly said "I need a victim--I mean volunteer--to help me rinse this pot." A hapless volunteer approached. I turned her down and said I needed a man, then explained why. My hare-brained idea was genius: I was going to "rinse" the pot in the Men's Showers, where women were not allowed. For that, I'd need a man to help me. After the rinsing of the pot in a shower stall was done, and after we put the pot away, Jenny told me I could hit the showers too and call it a day.

We hugged, and I told her it was a pleasure helping in the kitchen. I also told her that I was going to be replaced by a different volunteer from my group. I had no idea what I was about to face in the morning.