CORTEZ – Swordfish Grill managers Tom Polch, Adam Sears and Bob Slicker delivered a U-Haul trailer filled with donated hurricane relief supplies to the Water’s Edge Gathering church in Lake Charles, Louisiana last Wednesday morning.
Donated by community members and business owners, the donated supplies were collected at the Swordfish Grill in Cortez and The Blessing Bags Project headquarters in Bradenton.
In Polch’s 2006 Ford 150 diesel pickup, the trio departed from the Swordfish Grill shortly after 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8 with a cooler full of energy drinks and water and more than enough snacks to make it to west Louisiana. A reporter from The Sun accompanied them on the 53-hour road trip that covered more than 1,700 miles and concluded in Cortez shortly after 9 p.m. on Thursday evening.
Polch and Sears shared the driving duties, and when not driving, Sears helped navigate using the Waze phone app that provides directions and real-time traffic information. Riding shotgun most of the time, Slicker – the Swordfish Grill’s general manager – served as mission leader, co-navigator and travelogue commentator.
At 7:19 p.m. Tuesday evening, Sears proclaimed, “This is going to be a very uneventful trip. We’re in and we’re out.”
At 1:50 a.m. Wednesday, Sears said, “I think today is our lucky day.”
Those predictions held true during the westward leg of the trip but would be tested during the return trip from Lake Charles.
After driving all night, the group stopped for breakfast just before daybreak Wednesday morning at a Waffle House in Lafayette. The goal was to pull into the uncertain conditions awaiting in Lake Charles after the sun came up.
Twenty-two miles outside of Lake Charles, the first visible signs of hurricane damage appeared along I-10 in the form of tattered and twisted billboards and small trees bent over or snapped off completely by Hurricane Laura’s devastating winds on Thursday, Aug. 27.
As Lake Charles drew closer, the damage got worse and included tipped over trailers, damaged or destroyed structures, larger fallen trees and toppled power lines.
Supplies delivered
Shortly after 8 a.m., Polch pulled the truck and trailer into the Water’s Edge Gathering church parking lot. The large metal building was still standing and mostly intact despite roof damage, water damage and the loss of electricity.
Church volunteer Katy Rozas arrived a short time later, accompanied by her boyfriend and fellow volunteer Jonathan Wilson. The supplies were unloaded and carried into the darkened church auditorium now serving as a makeshift warehouse and staging area.
The donated supplies from Cortez included coolers filled with cleaning supplies, personal hygiene products, lighter fluid, several bags of charcoal, tents, tarps, flashlights, gloves, a used chainsaw, a used hedge trimmer, stuffed animals, pillows, three large plastic barrels that could be used as rain barrels and more.
Slicker also delivered more than $1,500 in donated Walmart gift cards to be used at the nearby Walmart on I-10 that has power and remains operational.
Wednesday’s delivery was preceded by a truckload of donated supplies collected by the Swordfish Grill and The Blessings Bags Project that were delivered to the church Sunday afternoon by Joe Cadmus. The bed of Cadmus’ flatbed truck was filled with charcoal grills, tents, tarps, cleaning supplies and more.
Water’s Edge received additional supplies from other donors in Florida, Texas, Wisconsin and beyond.
While giving a tour of the church, Rozas noted normal church activities include a homeless ministry and a food pantry.
“This is probably the only time this has been empty,” she said of the dark and damp food pantry that was still drying out.
Rozas and Wilson rode out the storm in Lake Charles.
“The sound was terrifying. We lost some shingles, some awning, an entire fence, some shutters, some gutters and my garage door, but we lived. I still have a sound structure. I have three rental properties. One of them had three trees on it. One had the neighbor’s roof on it and the third had a larger tree on it. My house and my structures are OK and we’re working to make sure our tenants have a safe place to come home to when we get power back. We’re still in a mandatory evacuation, so people are not supposed to be here. They’re asked to come secure their stuff and leave, but we’re a bunch of Cajuns,” Rozas said.
“We had power tools and the first thing we did was cut our way out. We walked the block and saw total losses. It’s just mass devastation,” she said.
Rozas said the Water’s Edge buildings fared better than some of the other churches in the area, including some that were severely damaged or destroyed.
“We are blessed,” she said. “Our community relies on us. When people ask where they can get tarps, they’re told to come to Water’s Edge. The people trust us to have some answers – and if not, some hugs. We can use everything you gave us and pour it into our community.”
Church volunteer Jennifer Hawkes looked at the donated supplies and said, “This is just amazing. We’ve got a lot from Florida and I have another shipment coming. I had a group of guys from Wisconsin drive down yesterday in their pickup. We’re getting donations from all over. We’re disbursing it to our community and we’re sending it out to the communities and small towns that aren’t getting the media attention Lake Charles is getting.”
“We still don’t have power at my home. I live maybe 15 to 20 miles from here and I’m still running off a generator. I have water, but no power. We’re under a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. It’s dark at night and there’s been some looting, but the patrol officers have been great. Our mayor is awesome and he’s out in the community daily. Our community has pulled together, but it’s going to take months,” Hawkes said.
As 10 a.m. approached, the heat and humidity of the looming day could already be felt. Wilson said local officials estimate it will be at least another two or three weeks before power is restored in some areas.
Post-delivery sentiments
Water’s Edge volunteers Luke Cooper and Brittany Straub arrived and gave Slicker and The Sun a tour of the surrounding damage while Polch and Sears briefly napped in the truck.
At about 11 a.m., the Cortez contingency pulled out of the church parking lot and headed toward D’Iberville, Mississippi to spend the night at the Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort using previously accumulated credit card points.
Polch, Sears and Slicker were asked how they felt about their completed delivery.
“You feel OK, but you don’t feel jubilated. You wish you could do more. They seemed like great people,” Polch said.
“I hope what we’re doing gives those people hope to carry on the good work they’re doing to help others,” Sears said.
“We didn’t bring them a trailer full of stuff, we brought them hope – at least for one day. It’s a bit bittersweet. I feel blessed and grateful to be able to do it, but then in the same breath I feel like I’m letting them down by not staying and helping more,” Slicker said.
In 2018, the Swordfish Grill collected and delivered relief supplies for Hurricane Michael victims in Port St. Joe in the Florida panhandle. In 2017, the Swordfish Grill collected and delivered relief supplies to Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas.
“When we’re gathering supplies the first thing I think about is, ‘How can we help’? The second thing is to figure out how to get it there,” Slicker said. “I tell people that being a small part of something like this becomes part of a much bigger thing – and when you see a trailer load of supplies delivered you see that it does make a difference. It’s already getting hot and those people are going to be out there all day with nowhere to cool off, and nowhere to cool off tonight. We get to go to air-conditioned hotel rooms and eat a hot meal.”
Road trip tribulations
West of Baton Rouge, Polch’s truck developed a tire vibration that became a source of growing concern and was initially thought to be caused by towing an empty trailer. The group decided to stop for lunch and reassess the situation at Parrain’s seafood restaurant in downtown Baton Rouge.
During lunch, Sears called the U-Haul office in Bradenton and inquired about dropping the trailer off in Baton Rouge instead of returning it to Bradenton. After several more phone calls, a local drop-off was arranged, but the uncured tire vibration remained.
Before departing Baton Rouge, more phone calls were made in search of a tire store that could remedy the issue. At approximately 3 p.m., a Plantation Tire Pros representative said they could look at the truck and try to make the needed repairs, but they closed at 5 p.m. sharp.
The prognosis was that the inner structure of one of front tires broke and was coming apart internally. The recommended cure was two new front tires. The employee dispatched to retrieve the new tires was initially given the wrong-sized tires and had to make a second trip to the local supplier. At approximately 6 p.m., Polch’s truck was back on the highway and riding smoothly again.
The group arrived at the Scarlet Pearl shortly after 8 p.m. Showers were quickly taken and Tampa Bay Lightning attire was donned before the group headed down to the casino to watch the playoff game won by the Lightning on a last-second goal. After a late and delicious dinner at Scarlet’s Steak and Seafood, the weary travelers called it a night.
Thursday’s trip home was uneventful and highlighted by an early dinner at the taxidermy-filled Big Wood BBQ and Grill in Live Oak, Florida.
Supplies disbursed
On Friday, all the supplies donated to the Water’s Edge church were disbursed to those in need.
At 12:27 p.m., Straub sent a text message that said, “We took on way more damage in the church than we originally thought and we’re having to empty the entire church as people are getting their things.”
At 3:07 p.m. Straub sent another text that said, “Forty-seven minutes after we opened it was all gone. That was incredible.”
Straub said the folks in Lake Charles were keeping an eye on Tropical Depression 19 – which on Saturday was upgraded to Tropical Storm Sally as it headed toward Louisiana and Mississippi with the possibility of developing into a hurricane.
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