Well four days down with one to go. Today I again planned to work at the respite center from 8:00am-4:30. After stopping at a local Burger King for a cup of coffee, I got to the respite center a few minutes before 8:00am. I signed in and saw I would need to make my name tag with scotch tape and a sharpie. One must certainly have an appreciation for improvisation if he or she wants to enjoy their time at the respite center.
With my scotch tape name tag I headed for the shower trailer. I got the washers and dryers running, and folded the clean towels I pulled from the dryers. I gathered up dirty clothes on the floor, wiped out the shower bottoms, and restocked the toothbrushes.
Now it was time to head for the stock room to assess the amount of sandwiches in the fridge and the number of snack packs on the shelves. There were exactly 4 packs of sandwiches remaining despite having filled it to the brim before leaving yesterday. From the 12 full shelves of snack packs present yesterday afternoon, there were only two shelves of snack packs left.
Thankfully we had several mid-morning volunteers to help with making the snack packs. Some were locals from McAllen and some from Missouri. While filling the shelves with snack packs, we discovered that the same Methodist church delivered another 300 premade sandwiches for the respite center. So immediately after finishing up the snack packs we started to bundle up the sandwiches in groups of four. And just like that we had a full fridge of sandwiches again.
Now for the past five days the laundry had been run and operated by two wonderful women from Minneapolis. Unfortunately yesterday was their last day and it was left to me to wash, dry and fold towels most of the day. The proved challenging after discovering that the right side dryer was not working. I can’t I was surprised given the fact that both dryers have been going nonstop all week. I can only imagine how many more dryers the center will go through over the next year.
In between loads of laundry, I checked on the sandwiches and the snack packs, emptied out garbage cans, served soup, and helped restocked items for the snack pack assembly team. One fun fact today came when I learned that one of the regular volunteers at the respite center actually spent time living in Dayton, Ohio. She had recently moved back home to McAllen to help care for her father whose health was becoming more fragile.
Now by the time my day ended I was able to load the dryer with the last round clean towels. I then folded the remaining dry towels and made sure both the men’s and women’s showers had an adequate supply of towels.
I left the shower trailer to my gather things and head back to the hotel. As I passed through the waiting area towards the center’s entrance I came across a familiar scene. A large room filled with men, women, and children unsure of what tomorrow will bring. Where will they go? When will they get there? Will they be able to remain there? So many questions. I hope and pray that tomorrow can provide answers to some of them.
CJE