Church-sponsored Saw Crews

[computeruser]

Anyone here have any experience with the church-sponsored disaster relief saw crews? Good or bad, I'd be interested in hearing your experiences with and thoughts about these groups, or for that matter about other non-church volunteer disaster relief saw crews. Are they useful or do they get in the way? What works, what doesn't? Stuff like that.

 

[Saw Dr.]

I don't know much about the operation. I do know that I bought a minty Husky 55 from one of those crews once. It was going to take some divine intervention to un-score the cylinder, so I gave them $50 and took care of it the old fashioned way. Apparently they fueled it straight from the pump.

 

[TRI955]

A very good friend of mine has done this.....did I mention he shouldn't even own a chainsaw!?!?!?

 

[lawnmowertech37]

Anyone here have any experience with the church-sponsored disaster relief saw crews? Good or bad, I'd be interested in hearing your experiences with and thoughts about these groups, or for that matter about other non-church volunteer disaster relief saw crews. Are they useful or do they get in the way? What works, what doesn't? Stuff like that.

All i know is they are volunteers

 

[Jchevytruckman]

If you here anything in Michigan computer let me know. There is a huge church in charlotte I am going to check in at.

 

[Philbert]

I have worked with volunteer disaster response groups for several years. There are a wide range of groups: from experienced, well equipped crews; to groups (like a church congregation, employees of a business, schools, scouts, etc.) of well intentioned people who just want to help.

The key is to match the work to the skills of the group, and to know their limitations. For example, less experienced volunteers can cut up downed limbs and brush, and leave technical stuff (urban felling, hangers, etc.) for the professional tree services. Unskilled volunteers can drag the cut brush, limbs, and rounds to the curb for pickup.

Like anything else, it helps if the leaders have some experience to manage the skill levels of the individual volunteers and to coordinate things. Newer volunteers do not cut as fast, but trade their slower, free labor for training and experience. Cutting storm damage is not the same as cutting firewood, so even experienced saw operators benefit from working with an experienced group.

Aside from helping with the trees, I have learned that these groups can have an enormous emotional impact on those affected by the storms. The storm survivors are often shocked by the damage to their neighborhoods, homes, and trees. Several have told me of how it felt to just know that someone cared, and that people they did not know would come to help.

Philbert

 

[MadMax5578]

A very good friend of mine has done this.....did I mention he shouldn't even own a chainsaw!?!?!?

Hahaha! I've got a friend like that too. Can't even start my 365 but insists he knows everything about chainsaws and felling tree's.

 

[slowp]

Saws aren't the only things needed. If you are used to doing physically hard work, there are other badly needed skills. A couple friends and I formed a crew and signed up to help after flooding. We ended up as mud shovelers because we brought shovels, and are used to manual labor. We were asked to come back, which we did and ended up tearing out wet insulation. Another physically hard job. It was also December, and chilly.

What are your skills? What is needed? Do what you can. Maybe you can best learn to run a saw somewhere else and do something that you are better qualified at.

I appreciated the hot dog lady. I smelled them, my friends said I was crazy, and here came a car, it stopped, a lady got out, opened the trunk and started serving nice, warm, hot dogs and coffee.

 

[litefoot]

Get permission from the property owner before starting any work. Let the experts handle the stuff that can cause further property damage. You can get sued. Limit the church-sponsored group to ground work (bucking, hauling and stacking). That's where most of the work will be anyway.

 

[computeruser]

Thanks for the responses. Kinda surprised more folks haven't had experience with them.

 

[drill.daddy]

i help with one in my home town . its a group of honest hard working men that help when a disaster occurs . most of the work done is ground work . little or no felling . you can say these men have lil skills till your home floods or a storm comes thru and these men show up to help you , then they are the saints you need. granted these men are not professionals but they do the best of there ability , the group i help with you have to take a day long safety course to be able to help .

 

[Philbert]

Thanks for the responses. Kinda surprised more folks haven't had experience with them.

There are always people who show up to help out. We call these folks 'SUV's' - spontaneous, unaffiliated volunteers, meaning that they are not part of an organized group. I'd bet that many people on A.S. have shown up to lend a hand when something happens in their area.

From your question, I thought of the more organized groups that might specialize, plan, train, equip, and/or travel farther specifically to do this kind of work.

Just curious what sparked your original post. Thinking about working with one? Heard some stories? Feel like you want to help out?

Philbert

 

[computeruser]

There are always people who show up to help out. We call these folks 'SUV's' - spontaneous, unaffiliated volunteers, meaning that they are not part of an organized group. I'd bet that many people on A.S. have shown up to lend a hand when something happens in their area.

From your question, I thought of the more organized groups that might specialize, plan, train, equip, and/or travel farther specifically to do this kind of work.

Just curious what sparked your original post. Thinking about working with one? Heard some stories? Feel like you want to help out?

Philbert

Well, two basic issues prompted my inquiry:
1. I don't get enough saw time anymore; and
2. I like to help people out who truly need helpin' out.
I'm trying to find a good way to address these two issues simultaneously.

In the past I've helped folks out with tree work, storm cleanup, and have cut/delivered firewood, either alone or with friends. In many instances, I ended up feeling like I had been played to some degree or another, especially when the recipient was a friend of a friend of an acquaintance, or some other non-prescreened sort of person, and I find out that they were actually capable of paying for the service they took for free.

In one instance, caseyforrest and I delivered and blocked up a couple trailer loads of wood for an ostensibly needy family that didn't have money for firewood; wood was their sole source of heat. I had previously secured a used saw for them from another AS member when their regular saw burned up. When we arrived with the wood, I found that they had destroyed the donated saw and wanted another, yet had magically found the funds to keep their horses fed. Last time I checked, horses are a luxury; heat in your rickety trailer, by contrast, is a necessity. This really rubbed me the wrong way, for its stupidity and the ingratitude.

So I've been trying find ways to prescreen the relative neediness of the people I would be helping. I work civil legal aid for the indigent by day, so I know the importance of having a good system of prescreening clients for income and circumstances eligibility. But I haven't found any local entity that does a good job of this for local saw or yard-related tasks.

I've thought about putting together a firewood-for-the-needy program, either in conjunction with a church or secular service organization, or as a stand-alone non-profit. But I don't really have the time to build a non-profit or run an enterprise, and I live in the city so it isn't like I could run a firewood-for-the-poor operation out of my yard; if I had a couple acres, I'd start one tomorrow. So the idea of hooking up with a group that can manage the logistics of some helpful saw-related enterprise without me having to be in total control of the operation, well, that sounds appealing.

I've also thought about starting a tree service company, but I really don't feel like being an absentee business owner and I still need my day job and health insurance. And I have nowhere to store heavy equipment for low- or no-cost, as folks who live on a few acres in the country do. So I really couldn't approach the business as a hobby-business, I don't figure.

The disaster response crew idea also appeals to me because I have the advantage that I get a ton of vacation time through my job and, with some pre-planning to get people to cover my cases if an event struck, I could get myself set up to take a week or two off at relatively short notice.

 

[nmurph]

In one instance, caseyforrest and I delivered.....a couple trailer loads of wood for an ostensibly needy family....... yet had magically found the funds to keep their horses fed. Last time I checked, horses are a luxury; heat in your rickety trailer, by contrast, is a necessity.........
QUOTE]

feeding a horse would almost be understandable, but i want to know if they had gas in their bass boat and how new was there diesel dually???????


CU, i hadn't thought of organinzing through the church, but i may just approach a couple of friends with the idea........we had a pretty serious tornado a few miles down the road a couple of years ago. i wanted to go help, but the local authorities dissuaded everyone from coming to the area.

 

[Philbert]

So I've been trying find ways to prescreen the relative neediness of the people I would be helping.

OK - there are a lot of issues here, so I will hit the bottom line first: as a volunteer you need to feel good about what you do, and feel comfortable with the group/people you are working with.

As for disaster clients (a.k.a. 'victims, 'survivors', 'recipients', etc.), I have seen a range from what struck me as: effusive gratitude (were they sincere?), to indifference (were they still in shock?), to entitlement (are they expecting someone to do it for them?). As the '?' implies, it is hard to judge someone you don't know, especially right after they have been through a big shock.

As an independent volunteer, you should feel free to walk away from anywhere where you feel you are being used, where you feel uneasy, or feel unsafe (you didn't bring up safety - I did). After a big storm, there is plenty of work to do and plenty of people who would appreciate your help. If you are working with an organized group, there may be someone else identifying/screening the clients. In some sense, this is easier because you don't have to make the call. In these cases I get satisfaction from the help I am bringing to the community, and the positive atmosphere with fellow volunteers, even if I do not meet or have a positive connection with the individual homeowner.

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

. . .we had a pretty serious tornado a few miles down the road a couple of years ago. i wanted to go help, but the local authorities dissuaded everyone from coming to the area.

While local Emergency Managers respect that most volunteers are well intentioned, and critical for recovery, they have to deal with a number of issues that 'emergent volunteers' raise:

- while most people are honest, some invariably show up to loot, rip off victims, or use high-pressure or fraudulent tactics to sell clean up and repair services;

- some well intentioned volunteers get in the way of rescue, utility, and professional crews before the scene is safe (downed wires, leaking gas, victim rescue, etc.);

- in an area where 500 people are suddenly homeless, when 250 unprepared volunteers show up, the community now has to provide food, shelter, toilets, drinking water, medical care, etc. for 750 people!;

- many well intentioned volunteers get hurt, causing additional problems when resources are already stretched thin;

- many victims are resentful of disaster 'tourists' or gawkers and ask local authorities to keep outsiders away for the first few days;

- individual volunteers may be highly skilled or total klutzes, but either way, each is a big unknown when the Emergency Manager already has a full plate, especially if they are from outside of the community where the event has occurred.

Groups are easier. The EM, when ready for volunteers, will assume that the pastor (church groups), teacher (school groups), owner/manager (business groups), etc., will know and manage the individual volunteers. If you are forming your own disaster response group, it is very helpful to establish a relationship with the local EM BEFORE the disaster occurs. It also helps to understand how they manage disasters. There are some free on-line classes, e.g. IS-100a or IS-288 at http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp

It might be helpful for you to check out some groups in your area, get a feel for what they do, and if you feel like it might be appropriate for you. You can also learn a bit about how they work with EM's and interface with other response groups.

Some starting points:
- VOAD - an 'organization of organizations' active in disaster response. These are all private, non-governmental groups. Click on the map to find the VOAD in your state http://www.nvoad.org/index.php/member/statevoad.html , then see if there is one or more of the member organizations in your state that might be of interest.

- Citizen Corps - these are all government sponsored response groups. It is a nationally developed program, but each group is organized and sponsored locally (fire department, Sheriff, city council, etc.) and each group has it's own personality http://www.citizencorps.gov/

- contact your county Emergency Manager, Sheriff, volunteer fire department, etc. and ask them about local groups. If you identify with a particular faith, ask if there might be some type of affilated disaster response group (may be national). It can be very rewarding if you find the right fit, or very frustrating in other situations.

Philbert

 

[computeruser]

feeding a horse would almost be understandable, but i want to know if they had gas in their bass boat and how new was there diesel dually???????

CU, i hadn't thought of organinzing through the church, but i may just approach a couple of friends with the idea........we had a pretty serious tornado a few miles down the road a couple of years ago. i wanted to go help, but the local authorities dissuaded everyone from coming to the area.

Yeah, the horse thing is a sore spot for me. You'd be amazed how many of my indigent clients choose feeding their pleasure horses over feeding their kids. I understand the attachment to a horse - I was big in the english hunter-jumper thing when I was younger - but I also understand the cost to maintain one properly. To my mind it's up there with race cars, boats, and airplanes as a luxury.

I think that the church idea, even for the less-religious folks, is a great way to have connections nearby or out of town that will help determine who needs help. It provides support structure, intel, REMF help, and possibly an umbrella liability insurance source. Plus it tends to attract decent people as volunteers, in my experience. Still haven't found a local church with this sort of outreach/assistance as a structured part of its activities, though.

OK - there are a lot of issues here, so I will hit the bottom line first: as a volunteer you need to feel good about what you do, and feel comfortable with the group/people you are working with.

As for disaster clients (a.k.a. 'victims, 'survivors', 'recipients', etc.), I have seen a range from what struck me as: effusive gratitude (were they sincere?), to indifference (were they still in shock?), to entitlement (are they expecting someone to do it for them?). As the '?' implies, it is hard to judge someone you don't know, especially right after they have been through a big shock.

As an independent volunteer, you should feel free to walk away from anywhere where you feel you are being used, where you feel uneasy, or feel unsafe (you didn't bring up safety - I did). After a big storm, there is plenty of work to do and plenty of people who would appreciate your help. If you are working with an organized group, there may be someone else identifying/screening the clients. In some sense, this is easier because you don't have to make the call. In these cases I get satisfaction from the help I am bringing to the community, and the positive atmosphere with fellow volunteers, even if I do not meet or have a positive connection with the individual homeowner.

Philbert

Agreed and well stated.

In pondering the idea of an organized group doing this kind of work, I really like the idea of having good local connections on who needs help and other local intel that a roving independent volunteer would not have access to. Churches, fraternal organizations, and the like, those seem like good structures to fit this kind of activity into.

 

[spike60]

In smaller towns, where most people know each other, volunteer help is usually appreciated, even on public property such as clearing a roadway. In larger burgs, such participation by ordinary citizens is generally frowned upon unless the disaster is pretty major.

Helping people on their own property is generally a much more agreeable situation. In a post storm emergency situation, determining someones need, or their ability to pay to have the work done, is not as much of a factor as in that firewood/horses incident. For instance, the entire job need not be done. Maybe just enough cutting to open up someones driveway is as far as you need to go. I like Philbert's thinking that interaction with the other volunteers may be more rewarding than with the homeowner.

One thing you can expect to find is plenty of competition from guys who do tree work. There was a heavy wet snowstorm that produced a huge amount of tree damage in parts of this area last March. My Dad had a fair amount at his house, but nothing major. We decided to just wait until the snow melted and then clean everything up. (I'm 53 and he's 80 and we're still always looking forward to father/son projects.) But for a couple of weeks after the storm, tree guys and landscapers were knocking on the door trying to get the work. I've kind of got mixed feelings about that. On one hand there's nothing wrong with guys hustling work and nobody was pushy, but after a storm like that I'd think your phone should be ringing.

Firewood for the needy of course requires a screening process, because actual need has to be established. For me, and this will sound blunt: unless you're physically unable to cut your own wood, then your not needy. I'd say the target here would be elderly people who can no longer cut their own wood, yet still need to burn wood to affordably heat their homes. A church oriented group does sound like the best way to organize such an effort and reach these people. Plus it's not so large in scope that it becomes unmanagable.

 

[Anita S. Moore]

Anyone here have any experience with the church-sponsored disaster relief saw crews? Good or bad, I'd be interested in hearing your experiences with and thoughts about these groups, or for that matter about other non-church volunteer disaster relief saw crews. Are they useful or do they get in the way? What works, what doesn't? Stuff like that.

Rebuilding Hope
Jim Boyd

 

[PJ41]

Worked with a group of volunteers from our church after a tornado touched down in Monson Ma. Town had things organanized, they directed us to properties needing help. Bucked and dragged mostly. There was a technical crew affiliated with a national church that did all the hangers and dangerous ops. Went up one evening a week for a couple of months.