In the early days of Grounded Boots Relief, requests for help came in through informal channels. Many were sent directly to our founder, John S. Badger, through personal messages or social media. Others came through the Hendersonville Disaster Relief Facebook page, and later through our organizational email. As the organization has grown, so has the way we receive and manage requests for assistance.

 

Today, we receive leads through three primary channels. The first is our direct email, info@groundedbootsrelief.org. The second is through the Disaster Recovery Partnership, a program of United Way of Henderson County. The third is through referrals from other nonprofit organizations.

 

The Disaster Recovery Partnership plays a critical role in this process. Their case managers work directly with individuals and families to understand their needs and determine which organizations are best suited to help. With the client’s permission, those needs are shared with appropriate partners like Grounded Boots Relief. This approach prevents people from having to contact multiple organizations on their own and helps ensure that requests are routed efficiently to groups that can actually address them.

 

Grounded Boots Relief has been a proud partner of the Long Term Recovery Group since its formation last year. Being part of this coordinated network allows us to focus our efforts where they are most effective and ensures that our work complements the efforts of other organizations rather than duplicating them.

We also receive referrals from nonprofits that encounter needs outside their own scope of work. When another organization identifies a situation that aligns with our capabilities, they reach out directly to us. In those cases, we respond just as we would with a Disaster Recovery Partnership referral by assessing the situation and determining how we can help.

 

Finally, some individuals find us on their own and contact us directly through our email. Every request, regardless of how it arrives, follows the same process. We visit the property, assess the situation in person, confirm that the work falls within our scope of operations, and identify the tools and volunteers required to complete the job safely and effectively.

 

Over the past year, we have continued to refine this intake and assessment process. We are grateful for the trust placed in us by our partners and by the individuals we serve, and we remain committed to responding thoughtfully, responsibly, and with care to those who have been carrying the weight of recovery long after the initial disaster.

This past week was a busy one for Grounded Boots Relief. As the year winds down and the holiday season ramps up, many people are juggling family gatherings, celebrations, and end of year commitments. Despite that, our volunteers still found time to show up and serve.

 

On the ground, Grounded Boots Relief was able to assist two families with chainsaw work and debris removal. These projects helped reduce immediate safety risks and restore access to their properties. None of this would have been possible without volunteers who were willing to give their time and energy to help neighbors in need.

 

It is important to share a bit of reality behind this work. While these services are provided at no cost to the families we assist, they are not free to carry out. We are still navigating permissions with the county to access the transfer station, which means we currently pay the same disposal fees as anyone else. This week, dumping the first load alone cost sixty five dollars. Add fuel, bar and chain oil, and lunch to keep the team going, and the costs add up quickly.

 

Volunteer labor is invaluable, but the operation itself still requires resources. Even small donations make a meaningful difference. Five dollars helps cover fuel. Ten helps offset disposal costs. Every contribution helps us keep showing up and doing this work responsibly.

 

If this is the kind of work you believe in, thank you for supporting Grounded Boots Relief in whatever way you can. We are committed to stretching every dollar and continuing to serve our community through the busy season and beyond.

A Medical Tool That Became a Logging Icon
  The first chainsaw was invented in the 1780s by Scottish doctors John Aitken and James Jeffray to assist with childbirth and bone surgery. The original device was hand cranked and used during procedures like symphysiotomy, a now outdated operation performed to save the lives of mothers and infants before modern cesarean sections were common.  
Source: USAToday.com

When this becomes your everyday work, it is surprisingly easy to lose sight of why you are doing it. New volunteers have a way of reminding career volunteers like me of the purpose behind the routine. Full transparency: I have spent so much time focused on the what that I drifted away from the why.

 

Yesterday brought the reminder I needed.

 

We served two families. One had a tree crash onto their home (now removed under FEMA allowances). The other had limbs, debris, and a fallen tree scattered across their yard. Both needed debris cleared. One needed a large log dissected and taken away. My mind had been wrapped up in logistics: who was showing up, what order we would tackle the jobs, what tools were needed, whether the homeowners were reachable, and how to sequence everything so the day went smoothly.

 

Then we arrived, worked, shook hands, and moved on to the next site. No fundraising pitch. No sermon. Just service.

 

After the second job, I noticed one of the volunteers with tears in their eyes. I will not pretend to know exactly why, but it hit me in that moment that what we do is not simply manual labor. It is an act of service for people who cannot do the work themselves and cannot afford to have it done. We show up because someone has to. We show up because it is the right thing to do.

 

That brief exchange, whether I interpreted it correctly or not, helped ground me again. In the immediate aftermath of Helene, I cried daily. The real, ugly kind. Now I move more quietly and sometimes more mechanically, but yesterday reminded me that the volunteer in me is still there. The heart for this work did not disappear. It was just buried under logistics.

 

And thanks to the people who showed up yesterday, it resurfaced.