An update on the Emergency Response Team Shower Trailer Ministry
by Trish Burket*
It’s almost ready for service!
After many hours of work by our core group of skilled carpenters and their support group, the ERT shower trailer construction is nearly complete. Shower stalls are in place, fresh water and waste water plumbing is complete, gas lines have been installed, and both 120-watt low voltage electric service lines are ready to go.
On Monday, July 23, you might have caught a glimpse of the trailer in the Jasper County Fair parade.
The entire interior of the trailer needed to be sprayed with Line-X before it was ready for the installation of a washer and dryer. While we’re on that subject, Saint Luke United Methodist Church’s Vacation Bible School in Newton Iowa raised $986.47 and donated it for the purchase of a Maytag Neptune washer. But that’s not all the good news. Soon after we received Saint Luke’s donation, another financial gift arrived from an anonymous contributor in Colfax for the purchase of a Neptune dryer. If you have ever priced a new Neptune washer/dryer stack set you no doubt found they are not cheap. Jeff Orlich, owner and operator of Appliance Plus in Colfax, sold them to us at his cost. Thank you, Saint Luke, thank you, Jeff, and thanks to the anonymous donor for participating in this vital ministry.
While we’re thanking people, a special thanks goes to George and Kathy Dickerson, owners and operators of Dickerson Mechanical. We haven’t received the final numbers as yet but I am quite sure they have contributed what would amount to thousands of dollars in professional advice, labor, and parts. In addition, they allowed us to work on it at their beautiful new facility.
We also want to thank the Line-X Company of Des Moines. The normal cost for spraying a trailer like ours would have run approximately $3,000. Line-X of Des Moines will be donating all the material to spray it and charging us only for the labor. When it’s all said and done their contribution to this ministry will amount to a couple thousand dollars.
As mentioned at the offset of this update the ERT shower trailer is almost ready to go, but not quite. There are still items we need before the rubber hits the road. If you remember the flood of 2010 and the terrible mess and want to help others like we’ve been helped, there is a way. We have compiled a list of items and equipment still needed, along with their approximate cost. Consider contributing toward any one of the following items. Your contribution will be a blessing to someone in trouble when they need it the most.
If your church is looking for a way to support a hands-on disaster response local ministry, following Saint Luke’s lead might be a way to do it.
Equipment still needed:
1. 450 or a 4500 diesel flatbed dually pickup (cost?)
2. 2- 6500 watt Honda EM generators which are able to be linked (cost?)
3. 30 gallon LP tanks (cost?)
4. 275 gallon collapsible water tank ($558)
5. Hydrant Connectors (cost?)
6. Steps (cost?)
7. Portable Sink ($500)
8. Prepaid Fuel Cards ($50 or $100)
9. WiFi
10. Bath Towels
11. Liquid Body Wash
12. Additional experienced drivers and volunteers (more valuable than gold!)
For more information on how you or your church can be a part of this ministry, contact Trish Burket: 515.460.4892 (cell), 515.897.0796 (home voice mail), disaster.response@iaumc.org.
*Trish Burket is the Iowa United Methodist Church Conference Disaster Response Coordinator (IUMCDRC)