 Sister Betsy Van Deusen, Church Relations director for HFHI, provided on-site transportation during the build. click to enlarge More about the 1999 Easter Morning Build: Return to Friday's 1999 EMB Report College Students Revel in EMB "Classroom" "Social Butterfly" Lifts Crew at EMB Thank You, EMB Sponsors Earlier This Week: Monday | Tuesday Wednesday | Thursday 1998 Easter Morning Build |
Logistics Team Keeps Volunteers Fed, Happy
AMERICUS, Georgia (April 2, 1999) -- If construction seems to be progressing smoothly this week, it's thanks largely to a logistical support network elaborate enough to accommodate thousands of individual needs.
From transportation and first aid to food, drink, communications and even a lost-and-found box, scores of Habitat staff and volunteers have covered all the bases in planning this year's Easter Morning Build.
"There are questions coming up constantly, and our job is to do our best to provide the right answers," said EMB volunteer coordinator Stacey Elliott, feeling for the two-way radio strapped to her hip. "With any significant event, you're going to have things that pop up unexpectedly, but everyone has done a fantastic job rolling with the punches."
The registration tent has served as a kind of hub for everything coming in and going out of the EMB site, Elliott said, including a daily shuttle service that runs hourly between the Sumter County Fairgrounds, Habitat's headquarters in the Rylander building and the Easter Morning Community.
Perhaps the most substantial support operation, however, is the food service, on which more than 1,000 volunteers rely for three meals per day.
Everyday, 25 volunteers man the food tent, some arriving well before dawn to brew the coffee and arrange for the mass breakfast. Just as soon as the first meal is over, however, volunteers begin preparing the second.
"We've had a tremendous team [working the food service component of EMB]," said Peggy Willis, EMB 1999 coordinator. "There are teams responsible for delivering snacks, or cleaning the tables or any number of other things, and the volunteers and staff have done whatever's been necessary to feed everybody."
And that's no simple task.
When more than 1,000 volunteers eat three meals a day, it's difficult to underestimate the preparation and planning required.
"We've had such a generous response from merchants, vendors, churches -- so many people have contributed to the meals," Willis said.
About half of all food, drink and snacks has been donated.
Local civic clubs and churches have provided thousands of sandwiches, and businesses have provided some of this week's dinners. Maxwell House and Nabisco have contributed food and beverages, while other groups, such as the Aluminum Association, have provided the means of refrigerating them.
In all, 37 churches have pitched in this week to prepare the food and many other businesses and individuals have done their parts as well.
"We even had private citizens dropping off food at the registration tent," Willis said, "a bag of bananas here, some cereal or sandwiches there. It's been pretty remarkable."
Yet while it's relatively simple to predict such fundamental needs as food, it's impossible to plan for the unexpected. But the logistical support folks have been on the ready for the unexpected as well.
Staffers made special arrangements, for instance, when one volunteer needed urgent transportation to Columbus, Ga., or when another needed special access to telephone service.
"We're just trying to make sure everyone has a fun, safe and rewarding week here," Elliott said. "We've had some specific requests but have done our best to meet the volunteers' needs."
So, as volunteers tend the final tasks of housebuilding this week, they can rest assured that others have worked equally hard to provide the network necessary to support such a successful Habitat build.
Return to Friday's 1999 EMB Report
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