If you have traveled as a volunteer to Lakeshore in the Last couple of years, its a good chance that you made use of the Disaster Relief Mobile Wash House provided by the Elkins Rotary Club of West Virginia. Two years ago today I posted about the shower trailer on my blog. I quoted from the original press release that read:
Not long after Katrina had ravaged South Mississippi, an outreach group of folks from the First Baptist Church of Elkins, WV and the Rotary Club from the same city ended up at the Lakeshore Baptist Church on the western side of Waveland, MS. Although the church was completely destroyed, there´s a slab there, the people of that church were playing host to volunteer workers from the North. The only facilities were tents to sleep in and portable toilets for use by the volunteers.
The folks from Elkins WV tackled the problem, met the need, built, and graciously provided the Disaster Relief Mobile Wash House. Thousands of volunteers have made use of the facilities as they worked here in the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts.
The wash house is equipped with two bathrooms. The ladies´ room has a toilet, two shower stalls and a dressing area, while the men´s room has a toilet, urinal, two shower stalls and a dressing area. The center area contains two combination washer/dryers, a utility wash basin and houses the hot water heater. The dryers are operated by natural or propane gas, which also heats the facility when needed. The trailer is equipped with air conditioning and exhaust fans that keep the wash house cool and well ventilated. The wagon is equipped with an attached entrance stairway, landing platform and handrails that fold for storage and transport against the wagon´s underbelly. Utility hook-ups are also provided from the wagon´s underbelly.
Greg plans to travel to West Virginia this weekend and personally thank the Elkins Rotary Club for the use of the mobile wash house and update them on the continuing need here on the gulf coast. As we look forward to another labor intensive summer in the blazing Mississippi heat, we extend ongoing appreciation for the use of the unit. After working and sweating in humidity percentages and temperatures hovering around the triple digits, there is nothing like a good shower.
3 Comments
It touched my heart the first time that I came to Lakeshore and saw the trailer from Elkins. The reason it did is that the economy in Elkins has suffered over the years, yet they were able to reach out to a neighbor in need.
In the summer of 2004 our youth group, and a total of approximately 400 youth from all over the country, went to Elkins as part of a Group Work Camps mission to help fix up approximately 80 homes in the area.
i miss that shower trailer. good times in there. haha. ya know, washing dirty laundry after playing in dirt. haha 🙂
Thank you, Rotary Club of Elkins for your sacrifice + donation of this wash house/shower trailer. Pastor Don is absolutely right! There is NOTHING like a cold shower after working in the blazing Mississippi sun ;>)
May God Bless you all.