Floodwater leaves its mark on everything it touches. That’s what I found after volunteering with my fellow Walmart associates for two days this week cleaning up flooded homes in San Marcos, Texas. Even after water had drained out of a house, it was still everywhere – soaked into furniture, saturating carpets – and also imprinted on the hearts and minds of the people it has affected.
On Monday, one of my team members at the Walmart supercenter I help manage said that the City of San Marcos was collecting volunteers to help with flood recovery. He asked if there was anything we could do. Having never been through anything like this before, I wasn’t 100% sure. So I asked our store manager, and he couldn’t have been more supportive of us locating associates to volunteer. We headed out the very next day.
On Tuesday, six other associates and I set out to offer help to households that were affected. It didn’t take long before a man stopped us on the street and said he could use our assistance. When we walked in, everything was on the floor. It was very shocking. The flood had scattered their furniture, and there was mud everywhere. Where standing water remained, I saw children’s toys floating. Those are the kinds of images we’re all used to seeing on TV, but it’s a completely different feeling when you’re in the room where it’s happening.
We continued to help for two days – first, for local residents, and next, increasing our group to 18 volunteers for our fellow associates whose homes had been damaged. My store has distributed clothes, toiletries and fans to help with drying, and we gave another valuable resource – our time. I’m not sure if anyone in my group volunteers regularly, but being in such close proximity to flood-affected families, our thoughts immediately turned to anything we could do to make their lives easier.
At our store, we consider both our customers and associates as part of an extended family that supports one another during times of crisis. It makes me very proud to work for a company that supports us in going out and helping people in our community. There is a lot more work to be done, but I know that together we can overcome this natural disaster that has affected so many families here.
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation recently announced $500,000 in cash and in-kind donations to organizations helping with relief efforts for those affected by the floods in Texas and Oklahoma. You can read more here.