Week 11 (October 12 - October 18)

Monday through Thursday two of my teammates and I spent time making phone calls to homeowners at the United Way office. We called each homeowner that had already been assisted since the August flood to ask if they needed long term recovery assistance. Long term recovery assistance is the next step in United Way’s plan in assisting homeowners in disaster relief. Their plan is to assist homeowners that need assistance in repairing their home from the flood related damages. Repairs could include installing floors or walls, and assisting with recommendations for new appliances. By the end of the week we had made over 3,00o phone calls. I enjoyed making the phone calls because I was able to personally hear firsthand how grateful each homeowner was because of the volunteers that came to their homes. It was nice to hear their words of gratitude because often times we never had direct communication with the homeowners while we were cleaning up their homes.

Friday was our second day off. We decided as a team to have our day off Friday instead of Sunday so that we would have more options of places to sight see. We started the day with a visit to the Louisville Slugger Store where a few of us bought Louisville Slugger memorabilia. Personally, I was more amused with the huge 10 or so story bat outside the building! For lunch, we went to Steak and Shake because it was my teammate Brennan’s birthday and Steak and Shake is one of his favorite fast food restaurants. After lunch a few of us went to the local Science Museum where their had a Titanic Exhibit. At the beginning of the tour they gave each one of us a boarding pass of someone that had boarded the boat. At the end of the tour they had a wall that listed all the names of the passengers and told whether or not they survived. My passenger was an infant and was a part of the Class 3 passengers. The infant and her whole family survived. Overall it was neat to be put in the shoes of a passenger and see items that had been recovered from the boat. Afterwards, we headed back to our campus and enjoyed jambalaya that one of the MUW volunteers made for us and a special birthday cake that Brennan’s mom had made for his birthday. Talk about a delicious meal! After dinner my team and I attempted to see Michelle Branch and Better Than Ezra in a benefit concert at Hard Rock Café but sadly the concert was sold out. We at least got to catch a glimpse of Michelle Branch from the outside of the restaurant!

Saturday I spent most of the day working with another group of Mormons along with one of the MUW volunteers named Michelle. At first glance, the home looked like it would take all day to clean. All of the paneling and floors needed to be taken out of the basement as well as most of the furniture. Surprisingly the group of Mormon men that we worked with were beyond hardcore!! I would let them know what they had to do in one section and then walk away. In a matter a minutes I’d come back and they’d already have the task completed! I felt like I was on an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition when they are all running into the old home and quickly demolishing everything in site!! While working on the house, I experienced my first adventure with cockroaches!! I was taking drywall off an old back room of a basement when all of a sudden they flew out at me when I took off the last bit of drywall. Needless to say I squealed and ran out of the basement like a little girl. Thankfully we had a guy on the team who owned his own pest company and was more than happy to deal with them. I did however manage to get over my fear and squish a few while I was sanitizing the room.

Sunday I spent the day working on small projects throughout the town. After work, my teammates Becca, Tarah, Lan and I went and saw Kate Voegele in concert!! The concert was at Headliners which is a local venue where many artists perform. It’s a decent sized open room with a stage, bar and a second floor balcony overlooking the stage. The tickets were only 20 dollars so clearly we had to go! The opening bands were awesome and Kate was fantastic live!! She apologized in the beginning because she had been sick since Friday but she still sounded amazing!