How is DRAW even a thing?

Days after Houston, TX was flooded, I got on the phone with a half dozen of our fellow relief agencies, a couple of whom were on the ground already around the disaster stricken areas, and a conversation took place of who might need help in that area, how many people had needs, and what kind of needs did they have.  Hours later, I posted that I was looking for a road trip partner to drive about $17k worth of supply buckets to help hundreds of displaced families in two Houston suburbs, Rosenberg and Sealy.  Because they are both retired and enjoy spending time with their son, my parents called and said they'd be willing to drive down with me to deliver DRAW's buckets.  And so, 50 hours of driving later, we were able to deliver supplies to people that needed them, impacting nearly 1000 Houston area residents that were unable to stay in their homes.

So that's it, right? That's the story of how DRAW works.  A few people who respond at a moment's notice to deliver/distribute supplies and/or volunteer to help with cleanup.  Pretty easy.

Except that's not totally it.

You see, for Houston, we had to load the hundreds of buckets into the trailer the night we left to drive to Texas.  So I went down the list of people who had expressed interest to volunteer.  I was able to find about 10 people to help us load the trailer; one who had volunteered through the Clarkston High School LEAD program in the past, a few who had volunteered through Oakland Christian School earlier that year, a couple volunteers who had read about us in the paper three years earlier, and one who had started following DRAW's facebook page years ago.

So that's about it.  That's how DRAW works.  A few people that volunteer at a moment's notice to go help, and a few people who will volunteer as support to help get us on the road.

Except that's not totally it.

In order to have buckets ready to take at a moments notice, a week earlier, there were two churches who had organized volunteer days to collect supplies and help assemble buckets; Oakwood Community Church in Oxford, MI, and New Covenant Church in Clio, MI.  They got a bunch of people together, announced the effort weeks in advance, and had people from all around their community collect supplies so that they could have a lot of finished buckets (more that a couple hundred).  Efforts like this are what allows DRAW to have buckets ready to go at a moment's notice, so that we can respond effectively to those in need.

So that's about it.  That's how DRAW works. A few people that volunteer at a moment's notice to go help, a few people who will volunteer as support to help get us on the road, and a couple churches that work to collect and assemble buckets for us to take.

Except that's not totally it.

You see, we have LOTS of supplies in our warehouse (less so now, since we've been giving so much away lately...these floods gotta stop!).  The only way to track everything, know what we have, and know what to ask groups to collect, is by having a dedicated crew of volunteers that can come to our warehouse weekly to sort, inventory, clean, and organize all of the stuff that comes in throughout the year.  So for months, Cathy, Debby, Roger, Charlotte, Kathy, and Warren have been making Wednesday mornings their "warehouse time".  They come in, and organize themselves, often with coffee in hand, and start the often times thankless work of moving supplies around on shelves, counting (and re-counting) things like toothpaste tubes or dust masks, and preparing our layout so that, when a group wants to come in to assemble buckets, all of our stuff is ready to go, and we know how many buckets we can finish with that group.  Almost no one sees them, there's no amazing group photos in matching shirts, but they are what we like to call "the guts of the organization" (Flattering, I know)

So that's about it.  That's how DRAW works. A few people that volunteer at a moment's notice to go help, a few people who will volunteer as support to help get us on the road, a couple churches that work to collect and assemble buckets for us to take, and a crew of dedicated weekly organizers to make sure we're ready.

Except that's not totally it.

There were the 5 churches that helped pay for our travel expenses to get the supplies to Houston, TX.  

There are 8 board members, who went from meeting twice a year to meeting once a month, in order to plan fundraisers, set up infrastructure, develop communication plans, and set goals for the organization for the upcoming year.  

There are drummers that give their time to act like fools in parades, banging on buckets with specific rhythm, in order to raise awareness of DRAW's efforts around those communities.

There are people who make crafts year round to sell at Christmas time to raise funds for DRAW.

There are people who organize for me to come speak to synagogues, scout troops, or social functions about DRAW's mission, passion, and efforts.  

There are people who volunteer to file reports for us with the IRS, LARA, and every other acronym that needs our info.  

Except that's not totally it.

I founded DRAW four and half years ago under the premise that "we" could make a difference in the lives of people whose lives had just been turned upside down by mother nature, that we could help the people at rock bottom take a few steps back up toward normalcy through empathy, forethought, precision, and organization.  But I never imagined who that "we" was or would become.  

I had a passion and a belief in early 2012, but if that's all I would have had, DRAW wouldn't have lasted six months.  Instead, what happened in those four years was investment, whether time, ideas, or finances, by thousands of people of all ages, all walks of life, from all around the United States.  

So...How is DRAW even a thing?  DRAW is a thing because it stopped being "mine" just days after we started.  Now it's "ours".  Together, "WE" continue to impact people's lives through empathy, forethought, precision, and organization.  And as I'm looking forward to our continued growth and reach to help in disaster aftermaths, I look forward to what "WE" will become.  

In short, to the so, so many of you that have invested yourself in DRAW, I thank you.  It turns out, working together to make others' lives better is amazing.