40+ People in Rochester Help Cleanup Flooding Disaster in Kentucky

About a week ago, I was sitting in the studio at Townsquare Media in the middle of my radio show and I got a phone call from someone in Montana.  I get a ton of spam calls and I honestly never answer my phone so I wasn't going to answer it.  Well, turns out, it was a phone call I should have immediately stopped my show for and answered.  My youngest two kids were part of a group from Christ Community Church in Rochester, Minnesota that went to help clean up the devastation from the floods in Kentucky and one of my kids had a little "incident".

Group of 40+ Kids and Adults from Rochester Help With Flooding Clean-up in Kentucky

I'm a huge fan of the kids in the photos below (leaders too) because they are just amazing individuals.

Several months ago, sign-ups began for a mission trip to Kentucky for the students that are part of Impact Student Ministries at Christ Community Church.  Everyone is welcome at Impact (what we call the group) and we meet almost every Sunday night and just have an amazing time.  My favorite is the break-out time where I get to hang out with the 10th-grade girls and just talk with them.

At the time of sign-ups, it wasn't extremely clear what the trip would entail and words like "be flexible" were part of the conversation.  It wasn't until the floods hit Kentucky did anyone really realize how relevant the word "flexible" was for this trip.

The crew from Christ Community Church left for Kentucky at 5:30 am on Sunday, July 31st, and started their trek East.  Cleaning up mud, sorting clothes, demo work of buildings and rooms that were flooded, and passing out water with the National Guard were just some of the everyday tasks that the group from Rochester, Minnesota helped with at various towns in Kentucky that suffered from the flooding.  Sometimes, that was during a heat advisory as well.

But as the leaders said, and a few of the students, not a single person complained.  They were there to help and seeing the devastation that was right in front of them was an unbelievable site.  Some people lost absolutely everything and sleeping on a cot in a large room was now "home".

The phone call that I got while I was at work

First, everyone is fine.

The phone call that I got that I should have answered involved one of my kids who had a little incident while working on some demo in one of the properties that flooded.  As he was working with 2x4s and wood that needed to be removed from the building, he stepped on a nail.  It went through his shoe and into the middle of his foot.  If you were listening that day on the show, hopefully, I hid this well but I was on the phone with nurses and Doctors off and on while songs were playing and trying to figure out if my kiddo needed to get a tetanus shot.  The answer was: Yes.

I'm not sure what building my child was helping clean out but I know this...a tetanus shot is nothing compared to what everyone in the path of this flood is dealing with right now.

Check out the photos below of the devastation in Kentucky

Fox9 also interviewed a few of the students and leaders that were on the trip.  In the video that you can see below, you can try to find my kids in it if you'd like but I'd rather have you look at the destruction.  The individuals in these communities, many of them have lost everything.

Here's a way to help those impacted by the flooding in Kentucky

If you are wondering how you can help those in Kentucky, The Salvation Army in Rochester posted the following information:

We stand ready to provide beverages, meals, flood kits, and emotional and spiritual care to first responders and survivors of this flood emergency.  The Salvation Army strives to bring hope and healing to people who find themselves in the midst of extremely difficult situations.” - Bo Sells, Divisional Emergency Disaster Service Director

 

Learn how to help financially through The Salvation Army here.

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