8/7/2009 9:59:00 AM Hope rises from rubble of natural disasters
COURTESY PHOTOIn response to need at disaster sites, the Orphan Grain Train converted a semi-truck trailer into a kitchen. Here, the Rev. Ray Wilke, president of the Orphan Grain Train, is shown with the late Mike Wichman of Pierce, who renovated the trailer.
Did you know?
In the past four years, the Orphan Grain Train has shipped 147 semi-loads of supplies and merchandise to the Gulf Coast to aid the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.
To learn more about the hurricane response efforts, go to http://www.ogt.org/index.php/video/video_full/hurricane_katrina_response_2006/
or http://www.ogt.org/index.php/usreliefefforts/hurricanes_katrina
Editor's note: Since its inception in 1992, the Orphan Grain Train has shipped more than 63 million pounds of goods around the world and has expanded to include 19 divisions situated around the country. This week, the Daily News is looking at some of the people behind the Norfolk-based organization and some of their special projects.
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More than 27,000 volunteers have come and gone from Camps Biloxi and Restore since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast four years ago.
During their stays, many of them slept in dorms made from the 8x40-foot containers the Orphan Grain Train uses to ship products and merchandise around the world.
Or they took showers in the truck trailers the Grain Train had turned into shower rooms or cleaned up debris using Bobcats and forklifts delivered by the Grain Train . . . the list goes on and on.
In fact, by 2008, 147 pieces of Orphan Grain Train-provided equipment were in use in the Gulf Coast area.
Included in that number are around 40 mobile shower, restroom, bedroom, storage and office units sent to Camp Restore in New Orleans and Camp Biloxi in Biloxi, Miss.
"They have been vital to the relief effort," said the Rev. Dave Buss, who oversees operations at Camp Restore and Camp Biloxi. "Without them, one camp wouldn't have dorms . . and the other camp wouldn't have a kitchen."
The makeshift facilities do more than provide shelter and food.
They also restore hope.
When the wind finally stopped blowing and the rain finally stopped falling four years ago, Brenda Johnson's house was mired in mud and filled with water.
After the storm, the New Orleans woman, her husband and their two grandchildren spent two weeks living in their car before her son rescued them.
It was eight months before they saw their home again and three years before they were able to return. During that time, they - like thousands of others - lived in a Federal Emergency Management trailer in the front yard.
But, as with many storms, this one involves a rainbow.
For the past two years, Johnson has cooked meals for the hundreds of volunteers who file in and out of the volunteer camp every week.
Her kitchen is a former truck trailer.
"When I heard the story of the kitchen coming here and they wanted help to feed the people . . . it was a rush," Johnson said during a phone interview. "These people come from all over the world to help, and I get to cook and feed them. It's a huge blessing for me."
That feeling is echoed by Matt Deighton of Greensburg, Kan.
Earlier this spring, the Orphan Grain Train removed the bedroom, office and kitchen units that had been in place since May 4, 2007, when a powerful tornado leveled the town, killed 10 and injured another 50.
Deighton had returned to his hometown shortly before the storm hit and was appointed to coordinate relief efforts.
Within days the Orphan Grain Train had a tanker full of fresh water on its way south.
And within three weeks, it had helped establish a volunteer village and relief command center for faith-based operations, complete with housing, kitchen, dining room and offices.
When it was fully operational, the village employed 13 people - including the kitchen staff, case managers, construction and project managers.
But something was missing in Greensburg.
"All of the churches were destroyed, which meant all of the religious organizations had to start from ground zero," Deighton said.
To give them a helping hand, the Orphan Grain Train arranged for a mobile chapel to be sent to Greensburg.
Built and transported by Heritage Homes in Wayne, the chapel was -- and still is - used by three congregations.
Now, two years later, it and one storage container are all that remain in the village.
"We got here because of the faith-based organizations who helped people restore their lives," he said.
At one time, the Orphan Grain Train supported seven volunteer camps in the New Orleans area. All but three of those camps have closed, and some of the equipment and units have been returned to Norfolk or sent to other sites.
Still, there is plenty of work to do.
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Tomorrow: Learn how volunteers impact the Orphan Grain Train's work.
