SERVE 6.8 Clean Up Crew

The owners of this property are an elderly couple.

Our team found the barn with water damage 18" up from surface. Damage to high-end pieces of equipment such a generator, snow blower, rider mower, etc.

Our crew was excellent and hard working. It's a blessed experience to work with such motivated individuals. They didn't want to break for lunch but nor did they want to quit at 5:30, the time I had wanted to quit for the day. Kudos to them, as the job had called for twenty individuals , and our count was nine.

Work proceeded well, with initial emptying of the barn, then discarding of the damaged / waterlogged  items. The inside of the barn was washed from the four foot level down with both power washers being used. Shelving that had been emptied from barn was washed and replaced back in barn.  Tools, children's power toys, and high-end items being washed last. Owner was able to provide a trailer to take waste up to road, which simplified the task at hand significantly.

 

The damage in the area was very moving, especially if you hadn't been in the area previously. I used to spend time with some long term friends at a park  just down the street, and the park has disappeared, with just an edge of grass by the river, with all the park converted to rip-rap. The area to the south of the Johnson's now looks like a beach, rather than a field.

Dee, the housewife, thanked us profusely, and her husband (who has early stage dementia) was just happy at all the work that we did, because he couldn't have done it by himself.

Zane Strange

SERVE 6.8 Missionary

Thank you Parker!

We received this letter and donation from Parker today.  Don't miss his last sentence - My belief is to help other people in need.  

Tom Brady's House

Tom is an old man who is on dialysis 3 times a week and lives right on the Poudre River just up the canyon.

 

After the flood, Tom was found living in his truck.  He was brought to our shelter at Timberline Church, where with our partnership with the Red Cross, was given the proper medical attention he needed.

 

His home is an interesting one to say the least.  As the story goes it's 100 years-old, built around a train caboose!  An addition was added in 1925, with another addition added in 1952.  Probably only 1000 square foot total with a little loft up top. 

 

While we didn't have enough volunteers out on Tuesday to finish the job, we did get a great amount of work done with the few VERY dedicated folks. On Thursday we were back out with a large group and not only finished the task, but got twice done what we thought we could have.  

Tom's property acted like the safety net for all the debris floating down river.   EVERY piece of debris was picked up and hauled back.  We also had a few folks who dug ~80 yards of trenches just to drain out the standing water from around the home. 

Thank you SERVE 6.8 volunteers for making an impact in Tom's life by sharing you time - that was a priceless gift!

 

Digging out a house

This is house is in the Big Thompson Canyon.  Our Volunteer SERVE 6.8 work team will be bringing in some equipment and a lot of hard work to help uncover this house.

A Sweet Package from Oregon

We received this sweet package from a first grader named Lucy in Oregon today!!  Thank you Lucy for thinking of the children that have been affected by the flood - you are a blessing!

The Saddle Makers Shop

The Saddle Maker's shop was an interesting one.  There was 8 feet deep of sand deposited by the river on parts of his property, that took the City of Loveland a full day with 3 large front end loaders to remove, just so he could get to his shop.  Monday and Wednesday were tough for us.  

There is no way to describe how much tools and materials there is in a Saddle Maker's shop, and each one was important to him.  When we had to deconstruct part of the shop to get to wet drywall and insulation it literally took a dedicated team an entire day to do that one part.  This Saddle Maker knows how to build things to LAST.  Probably why his shop is still standing!  Most places we just smash with a hammer and it falls apart, not this place!  

But that's not the story here.  The story is the man himself.  The Saddle Maker is 72 years old, but has lived a hard, working mans life, so looks, walks and talks older. I noticed he wasn't having much of a hard time keeping his chin up through all this, mentioned it to him.  His response was "Wellllll, I was raised not to complain.  Something like this happens, you just pull up your boots and get to work!"  I knew he had put a story out in the local paper that "If anybody finds any of my tools down river, please return them." So I asked him, Rusty is there something special you're missing that we could try to find for you.  He was hesitant as he didn't want to put us to "any trouble" but I finally got him to request we find just two things, the first saddle he had made 45 years ago, and his wife's saddle.  He believed they were in this shed leaning over and buried in 3 feet of river silt.  I said "no problem!" It took 3 strong men 3 hours to remove large tree limbs just to get in the place, but at the end of the day they told me they had found them.  I found Rusty, pulled him aside, said "We found your saddles."  For the first time I saw emotion show by him.  His knees buckled, blood drained from his face, and his eye welled with tears.  He just said "You found them?!" He couldn't believe it.  Apparently only the horn of one saddle was sticking through the sand.  Rusty quickly gained his composure and just said, "Well. Thank you."

 

What 6.8 is doing out here is not working on property, or a flooded shop, or a molded over home.  What we're doing is working on people's hearts.

- written by Robert Hard, Project Leader

Milliken - Serving a WWII Vet

SERVE 6.8 is committed to serving those in our community who have been affected by the flood.  We have teams that are sent out everyday.  If you would like to serve on one of these teams go to:  www.serve68.org

Last weekend we had the opportunity to serve the Mann Family in Milliken. Here is a personal note of thanks and pictures of our team there.

Please share with your team at “Serve 6.8 Team” and Timberline Church in Fort Collins how much we appreciate what you did for our family in the restoration work.  We would have been hard pressed to get to the point that we are in the cleanup work if it were not for the help of your group of awesome rescue workers.   Please share with your group and congregation our heartfelt gratitude for your giving service to us!