Friday, October 31, I traveled to Chapman, KS to assist the Sisters of St Joseph and others with volunteer work for tornado victims.
We signed in at volunteer headquarters at the Senior Center and were assigned work for the day.
On Friday there were only six of us and we went to a house to do outside painting. It was a beautiful day for painting considering it was the last day of October. We began by pulling flowers near the house and taking down the house numbers. We had to scrape the loose paint from the steel siding. The tornado didn’t do much damage to this house but the debris hitting it took some of the paint off. We went to the Senior Center for a coffee break Friday morning.
On Saturday we met again at the Senior Center and half the group sheet rocked and mudded at the Methodist Center and the group I went with cleaned debris from a house. We had about 5 people in each group. 
Ours was a very dirty job and we had to wear dust masks. This house had plaster and lathes and blown in insulation. Our job was to remove it and put it in a dumpster. We did this with 5 gallon buckets and heavy duty garbage bags. It was really hard work. By noon we had the downstairs finished and after lunch we finished the upstairs. This all had to be carried down the stairs and out to the dumpster. I did 
most of the carrying while the rest put it in bags and buckets. We finished about 1:30 PM.
Both days we ate lunch at a nearby house where two of the nuns prepared the food. The sheet rockers were still working but I headed back to Topeka about 2 PM. It gives me a lot of satisfaction when I help others who are in need.
We signed in at volunteer headquarters at the Senior Center and were assigned work for the day.
On Friday there were only six of us and we went to a house to do outside painting. It was a beautiful day for painting considering it was the last day of October. We began by pulling flowers near the house and taking down the house numbers. We had to scrape the loose paint from the steel siding. The tornado didn’t do much damage to this house but the debris hitting it took some of the paint off. We went to the Senior Center for a coffee break Friday morning.
We started working on it about 9 AM and finished at 3 PM. Once we had an area scraped some started painting the primer on with a brush. When we had it all scraped then we started painting. There was some on the east peak that we needed to get on the roof to work and the lady, Betty, had ladders in the back of the house that we used. The east side was really in need of paint and at first she said we didn’t need to paint it. 
I think she thought we wouldn’t want to go that high but we convinced her it needed painting and she agreed. Once the primer was on we started back over with a roller and brushes applying the white paint. It was sure an improvement and made it look so clean. We only painted the front of the house as the rest was okay. When we were finished she was really thrilled.
I stayed with my sister Mary and Dave Anderson since they live in Chapman. Their home escaped the damage from the tornado. Dave drove me around and showed me where the tornado came into town and where it went out. It went right through the middle of town and wasn’t too wide. There was quite a lot of damage but nothing like Greensburg. Mary’s daughter Misty and her husband Joe came for the night also, as Dave and Joe were going pheasant hunting Saturday. We had a good dinner and breakfast and a chance to visit.
I think she thought we wouldn’t want to go that high but we convinced her it needed painting and she agreed. Once the primer was on we started back over with a roller and brushes applying the white paint. It was sure an improvement and made it look so clean. We only painted the front of the house as the rest was okay. When we were finished she was really thrilled.I stayed with my sister Mary and Dave Anderson since they live in Chapman. Their home escaped the damage from the tornado. Dave drove me around and showed me where the tornado came into town and where it went out. It went right through the middle of town and wasn’t too wide. There was quite a lot of damage but nothing like Greensburg. Mary’s daughter Misty and her husband Joe came for the night also, as Dave and Joe were going pheasant hunting Saturday. We had a good dinner and breakfast and a chance to visit.
On Saturday we met again at the Senior Center and half the group sheet rocked and mudded at the Methodist Center and the group I went with cleaned debris from a house. We had about 5 people in each group. 
Ours was a very dirty job and we had to wear dust masks. This house had plaster and lathes and blown in insulation. Our job was to remove it and put it in a dumpster. We did this with 5 gallon buckets and heavy duty garbage bags. It was really hard work. By noon we had the downstairs finished and after lunch we finished the upstairs. This all had to be carried down the stairs and out to the dumpster. I did 
most of the carrying while the rest put it in bags and buckets. We finished about 1:30 PM.Both days we ate lunch at a nearby house where two of the nuns prepared the food. The sheet rockers were still working but I headed back to Topeka about 2 PM. It gives me a lot of satisfaction when I help others who are in need.
Today I signed up to go back around November 11 when Extreme Home Makeover will come to Chapman and build a home in a week. I volunteered to assist them.
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