PRESS RELEASE
Volunteer Spotlight: “My Pal Al”
July 7, 2008 –The following story is a shining example of how one Salvation Army volunteer is helping change lives in flood-ravaged Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was written by Judy Baldwin, an Iowa native and graduate of Coe College in Cedar Rapids. To date, The Salvation Army has served more than 100,000 people in Cedar Rapids and Linn County.
Today I traveled the streets of the Czech Village and the Time Check areas of Cedar Rapids to serve meals to flood victims from the back of a Salvation Army canteen truck. A Salvation Army canteen truck is staff by four volunteers – a driver and three food servers. I worked as a food server.
The truck’s driver is Al, a retired grocer from North Dakota in his mid-70s. For more than 11 years he’s volunteered for the Salvation Army. He’s been to 12 different disasters, including a trip to Manhattan days after the 9/11 attack and multiple trips to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina.
Al’s hearing is a bit defective, but his heart is fully functional. When Al’s canteen hits a flood-impacted neighborhood no one is unfed, thirsty or lacking facemasks or hand sanitizer. Al makes sure every victim has what they need, including a hug, a cheerful greeting and words of encouragement.
Usually, Al’s truck trolls only the Czech Village and the downtown business district. He’s been to the Czech Village so often that he’s made friends with many of the area’s residents and cleaning contractors. Today we first visited the Czech Village, followed by trips to the Ellis Boathouse Harbor and the Time Check area.
This is only Al’s second trip to the harbor and the Time Check area since arriving in Cedar Rapids a week ago, so there are many new faces for Al to learn and many new friendships for him to forge.
In the harbor we found dozens of people working to restore their floating weekend homes. One boathouse owner was rebuilding his dock with the intention of placing his flood dislodged boathouse back on the river. All of his work may be for nothing as the City and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources intend to close this boathouse village. All boathouses must go because they are in violation of state law.
Al said that yesterday the president of the boathouse homeowner’s association told him the group intends to sue the city if the state insists on prohibiting boathouses. I know these folks love their boathouses and the river, but they have regular homes to sleep in every night.
It is now three weeks after the flood, and I’m astounded that so many debris piles continue to line the streets in the Time Check area. Due to work obligations, many of these homeowners can only clean their homes on the weekends. They recruit their friends and relatives to shorten the recovery timeline. However, the recovery process is slow, especially since the devastation is wide, deep and just as shocking as the damage I witnessed in the Czech Village. In the Time Check area the water rushed an astonishing 10 blocks west of the river.
As always, wherever the canteen truck rolls we find flood victims who are grateful for the cold drinks and generous meals the canteen distributes. They praise the Salvation Army as we offer nourishment to give them the energy to perform their grimy chores.
Al was pleased that today we nearly emptied the truck of every one of the 300 meals we packed into the truck. As we headed back to the Salvation Army’s Distribution Center on 51st Street Al said with a satisfied sigh, “Today was a good day. A very good day.”
Back at the Distribution Center Al, my two fellow volunteers and I tossed our empty cardboard food boxes in the dumpster, leaving room for the hot meals that Al and a new volunteer team would distribute this evening. Before we left Al he gave a big bear hug to each of his three volunteer canteen workers. That’s my pal, Al!
