TTU students among army of flood relief volunteers
Like most of the volunteers, Lunn brings to the effort a full heart. And he brings something more: the ability to bring people together quickly and connect them to resources that can accept the outpouring of generosity.
Lunn is using his skills as a web designer to maintain a site called Nashville Ark for Cookeville-area residents interested in the latest flood news and volunteer information. In addition, he’s operating a Facebook page under the Nashville Ark name to provide a steady stream of information as he finds it in real time.
The floods, which began with rains May 1 before finals, had Lunn largely stuck at home in Mt. Juliet.
“We started driving around. My friend updated his Facebook status and before you knew it, the information just started flowing in with people wanting to help,” Lunn said. “I just thought we could put it all in one place so somebody who wants to help can quickly get the information.”
From there, the effort began to grow organically. A high school friend who now attends Mercer Law School in Macon, Ga., contacted Lunn after seeing the site.
“Jacquie Bretell and some law students saw the site and organized a canned food/water/cleaning supply drive and drove two full Blazers loaded to the brim with supplies up here,” Lunn said.
The site has organized more than 30 volunteers so far to canvas Nashville neighborhoods, repair homes and generally help with the cleanup where ever needed.
“Some of these volunteers have gone multiple days in a row, too, so the hours logged is quite substantial,” Lunn said.
Another TTU student, freshman Katie Reasonover, launched her own Operation Teddy Bear to deliver stuffed animals to children in shelters. So far, Reasonover says she has delivered seven large trash bags filled with toys for children.
“I feel like everyone who can should do something to help. So I've been focusing on donating what I can, which got me thinking about these families. All of them are hurting and sometimes a simple hug can help more than anything. These kids neeed hugs the most and since I can't hug them all, I figure if enough people get together, we can give all of these kids something to hug,” she said.
For Lunn’s part, in addition to maintaining the website and Facebook pages, he has been spending about seven hours a day volunteering to clean up houses. His summer job at a Mt. Juliet boat dock is on hold while officials are continuing to keep recreational boats off Old Hickory Lake for safety reasons.
“A lot of this has come together because of Facebook. If it weren’t for Facebook, I wouldn’t have been able to generate most of the content. I’ll definitely keep working the website this summer,” he said.
“A lot of Tech students have come out for the cause. I’m not sure the exact number because most of the ones I’ve met haven’t even come with me. We’ve just met on site.”
Go to Nashville Ark for information about how you can help flood recovery efforts.
