Westlake Forest December 2017

Boy Scout Troop 584 was living the Boy Scout
Oath when Hurricane Harvey struck the community
of Katy Texas. “To help other people at
all times” resulted in the Troop volunteering
over 600 hours to assist in rescuing stranded
residents, cleaning out flooded homes and
assisting at local crisis centers.
Every day we would receive requests from
members of our Troop with a list of homes or
businesses that needed help. There were a few
troop families that were flooded and needed
help but many others were friends of Troop
families. In some cases, we randomly drove
into neighborhoods and went door to door
asking if anyone needed help. In other cases,
we would be at a house doing clean up and
just moved to the neighbor next door or across
the street. There was so many houses that we
didn’t know the owner, just went in to help.
They started doing water rescues on the
Tuesday, August 27th and that moved right
into house cleanups. They didn’t miss a day.
Since the boys were out of school, they worked
every day until school returned September
11th. The troop split up into different crews
and went to as many houses as they could. It
wasn’t uncommon for us to be in 3-5 houses
per day. Since the boys went back to school,
we have still been doing weekend cleanups.
All of the work was focused in Cinco Ranch,
Kelliwood and Grand Lakes Subdivisions. The
boys never went into any house and were
concerned with the size or amount of work to
be done. They just knew that they had to get
started, work hard and get the job completed.
Every project we did was big but after the first
day or 2, it was like a well oiled machine. Almost
every house required complete removal of all
furniture, sheetrock, insulation, doors, moldings,
cabinets, bathroom fixtures and flooring.
The boys learned what needed to be done and
took on varying roles on each crew. Some were
doing sheetrock, some doing base boards, others
removing doors, some doing the carrying to
the curbs and lastly the ones on clean up duty.
Every boy had a role and was focused on the
tasks. Some houses were very small and some
were enormous. But the damage and losses
were just as impactful to every home owner or
business owner, regardless of size.
The boys learned so much. The first was “Be
Prepared.” They learned of how to prepare
for a crisis and how to handle it. They learned
how to coordinate priorities for clean up. They
learned how to cooperate and work as a team.
And most of all, they learned how to give back
to the community and neighbors with no expectations.
I never heard one boy complain
about the long hours, sore muscles or being
tired. At the end of every day they went home,
showered and woke up the next day ready
to tackle more houses on the list. One of the
biggest things they saw and experienced was
“humanity and compassion.” Being part of a
community where so many people were helping,
where strangers would bring them water
and sandwiches, where people gave them
tools and supplies. It opened their hearts for
the people that were impacted.
It was one of the proudest times I have had
in the Troop. Giving their time and effort with
no expectation for anything in return made
every parent so proud. To see the boys act like
young adults was amazing. They worked hard
and had fun. They might have just struggled
with an overloaded wheelbarrow but they
came back into the house with a smile and
ready for more. They bonded with each other
and build deeper friendships as they worked.
Seeing them tackle hard projects and use the
skills they have learned over their years in Boy
Scouts was great to observe.
Boy Scout Troop 584
Community Newsletter | December 2017
13