A Scout Is Helpful
Early on January 4th, with heavy rains forecast, St. Mark United Methodist Church in Santa Barbara was exposed to harm. Pastor Cynthia Huskey reached out to Boy Scout Troop 26 for help, since they meet at the church. She asked whether the troop might have volunteers who could fill, transport and place sandbags at critical points around the church structures. Scoutmaster Mike Schley put the word out to the troop families that morning, and he led six volunteers who were working that afternoon. While rain fell, some of the volunteers helped Tiffany and Kevin Kishiyama, church managers, to reposition older sandbags that were already on the site, while more Scouts and parents filled a total of 55 sandbags from County sites and delivered and positioned them around the church. This work helped prevent flooding of the church facilities and the preschool classrooms on the premises.
Though the flooding was prevented, the church suffered rain damage to several structures. Troop 26 volunteered for another work day, this last Saturday afternoon (Jan. 21st). Assistant Scoutmaster Forest Patton led a group of 15 volunteers who dug trenching around a portion of the church where walls had been saturated. They cleaned up the multipurpose room, Clemens Hall, where prior flood damage had required a replacement of the flooring and both the flooring and all stored furniture needed to be cleaned and the furniture moved. The volunteers also cleaned rain gutters around the church, to help prevent future problems.
The Los Padres Press Editorial Staff would like to give a shout out to the scouts of Troop 26 for helping their community prepare for the storms, as well as recover from the damages. Keep up the great work!