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Allergy Partners of Western North Carolina Lends a Hand
Julie Revis , RN
Allergy Partners of Western North Carolina
Our adventure to Cedar Rapids, Iowa began at 5:00 am on Friday, July 25th. We traveled 15 hours to reach our “hotel” for the weekend; the home of Kelly Buller, Allergy Partners of Cedar Rapids, Practice Manager. On Saturday morning we woke up to find two flat tires on our trailer that contained the donations. What a way to start out! On the way to the Salvation Army, our donation drop off point, we found a Goodyear Tire Store who so graciously helped us for free after hearing why“southern girls” were in Iowa. This put us a little behind schedule.
We arrived at the Salvation Army around 8:15 am. Due to circumstances
beyond our control, we did not leave our donations with the Salvation Army.
Our next stop was a local Presbyterian church. This is where we got our
work assignment from a non-profit agency working with the United Way. We
were questioned on the way, “What are you going
to do with all this stuff?”
At the church, while we were waiting to get our work assignment, a young lady with her 14-month-old walked in the door and asked for assistance with food and diapers. We were able to give her food, cleaning supplies, toys, diapers, baby wipes, and a car seat. Her mouth dropped and tears of joy filled her eyes. All of us looked at each other, and from that moment we realized why we were here. We took her and the baby home so she didn’t have to call a cab. She had lost her job in the flood and was having a tough time making ends meet.
From there we went to Salem United Methodist Church. We dropped off the cleaning supplies and bottled water at this church. This is where they were collecting materials to supply volunteers with what they needed to get the job done. They assigned us a house on Ellis Boulevard, in the heart of the area devastated by the flooding. Our job for the day; gutting. You may be thinking, what exactly is gutting? Well, as we now know first hand, you need a crowbar or hammer and upper body strength. Oh, and we strongly recommend a mask, goggles, and a hat as well. We walked in the home where five other volunteers were already hard at work busting down walls and pulling out wet insulation. They said, “have at it.” We looked at each other through our yellow goggles and began “Mission Demolition.”
At the end of the day, the homeowner (a single parent/grandparent) made the statement, “if you hadn’t showed up we would have never finished this in one day.” She walked us outside and we asked her if she would like to look in our trailer to see if there was anything that she needed. We gave her house wares, blankets, Christmas ornaments, toys, toiletries, etc. She smiled and began to cry…“thank you so much, its amazing the things you can learn to live without.”
Again we realized why we made the trip and that there was a reason we did not leave our donations with the Salvation Army. “When you all showed up, it helped me make a decision.” We are not sure what this decision was, but we are glad we could help out a family in need.
When we were finished there we drove around the neighborhood in which
we had worked. The words painted on the side of the house,
“unsafe,
do not enter” vs. the words from the
homeowner, “this is my home, let me come back” and “looters
will be shot.” It was truly devastating to see. We felt so many
emotions as we watched families try to pick up the pieces .
Words cannot describe the emotions we felt. As a group, we decided Sunday
morning we would volunteer serving food to the homeless at Mission for
Hope. “Live
simply so others can simply live” were the words we heard at a church
service for the homeless at the Mission for Hope. Serving the people there
was a separate experience all in itself. Standing behind the counter filling
up plates to hear, “God bless you,” “Thank
you,” and of course, the question we got all weekend, “where
are all of you from?” What gave it away?
Monday morning we were able to visit the office of Allergy Partners of Cedar Rapids and meet three patients who had lost their homes. They were so appreciative and open to share their stories with us.
Some quotes by the Allergy Partners of Cedar Rapids patients:
- “I left my home and returned within the hour to get more things to find my street already under water.”
- “We were advised to only take enough things for 3 days.”
- “My family returned home after the water receded to find our cat on the porch, alive.”
- “It’s the items that are not replaceable like pictures, collected Christmas ornaments…”.
We heard stories and presented them with gift cards to Wal-Mart, Target,
and Home Depot. Allergy Partners of Western North Carolina’s Julie
Revis, Nicki Bradley, Stephanie Labb, Amy Roberts, Mary Kendall, want
to say a big thank you to our physicians for supporting this trip both
financially and with donations. We also want to thank Kelly Buller and
the staff of Allergy Partners of Cedar Rapids, the staff of Allergy
Partners of Western North Carolina who stayed behind to keep the office
going, Corporate for support and donations, Allergy Partners’ patients,
and all of you who were with us in thought.
Thank you very much from all of us! The reflections of this trip are so meaningful, a life changing experience to say the least!
Julie Revis,
RN
Allergy Partners of Western North Carolina
Allergy Partners, P.A. provides diagnostic testing and treatment of allergies, asthma and sinus diseases in a caring and professional environment, nation-wide at 22 office locations.
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