Last week we visited Geiger, Alabama. Where is that, you may ask? Way out as far West as you can get into Alabama without being in Mississippi-and about 35 miles south of Tuscaloosa. Geiger was one of the first towns to be leveled by massive tornadoes on April 15th-about 2 weeks earlier than the devastating blow that came on April 27th. These not only flattened small towns but as you have seen, created utter destruction in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Huntsville, and all the small, rural communities inbetween.
As we visited Geiger, we came upon a group cleaning up at a church. The church was solid brick with a concrete floor-it might as well been a deck of cards. There was nothing left…nothing left standing except the church drumset and a lone microwave. Where sinks and commodes were once installed-only the piped studs. Unreal. Heartbreaking. When you turned you could see the billowing smoke from where some items were being burned. In the background was the sound of chainsaws, bulldozers, heavy trucks, and voices. One guy had his pickup truck loaded with water and drove around to hand it out to all those working. One town-gone. That’s just one…
The Cycle of Service is designed just for this. Sometimes homes become damaged over time due to not being able to stop a small thing like a leak from becoming the weak spot in the bathroom floor. Other times damage comes, quick, suddenly, and without warning-much more destructive and a true blindside. Both are difficult to manage. We ride for both. So, I hope you will join us on this amazing journey across our state to ride, serve and raise funds for families needing home repair whether they are from storm damage or just over time.
I pray I will see you on the ride!
lisa