AmeriCorps VISTA member Larissa Norris flips through a stack of homes to assign for mowing: 30 minutes into the volunteer effort, less than 20 homes remained for assignment.
John Ernst and his daughter Lillie Ernst read forms, and then signed on the line. It was going to be just the two of them tackling yards as a team. Neither had done much to help with flood recovery, but mowing was something to be done together, they said.
Larry Greiner, his wife Crystal Greiner and their son Nathan
Greiner planned to mow as a team because it was good or the community.
"We bought mowers, rakes, gloves – whatever’s needed,"
Crystal said.
"My mom was in the flood and we've helped her a lot."
Before leaving the Salem United Methodist Church parking lot, some out of town mowers needed directions from Terry Bergen of East Central Iowa United Way.
Jim Young and Rod Schreck didn't know each other before the event, but were assigned as a team to mow and trim weeds. They learned about the volunteer opportunity by reading the newspaper.
225 yards mowed in one day
160+ volunteers help in flood-affected neighborhoods
If volunteers had managed to mow 50 flood-affected yards on August 30, AmeriCorps VISTA summer associate Larissa Norris would have been thrilled.
On Thursday, she had six volunteers signed up.
On Saturday, about 170 volunteers showed up. By the end of the day, Larissa was nearly speechless: 225 yards had been tackled.
All homes were assigned, and all supplies were depleted.
"We went through every water, every pop, every bag of ice," she said, describing her mood as "ecstatic."
Larissa had been answering phone calls for assistance in the East Central Iowa Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) a month earlier when a resident called in tears with a new type of request: she needed the yard of her flood-affected home mowed. Larissa Norris and a few friends decided to tackle the yard on their own.
"It took us three hours, because we had only one mower," Larissa said.
Then she read a newspaper article about the City of Cedar Rapids threatening to charge homeowners to mow their out-of-control lawns. That made Larissa realize there were probably other homeowners who needed help with yards that were out of control post flood.
She hustled to put out the word that lawns would be mowed for free, then waited for the calls to trickle in as she worked to recruit volunteers.
Homeowners representing more than 200 properties in flood-affected neighborhoods called the VRC to request the free mowing. The media was asked to get the word out that volunteers were needed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. August 30.
Larissa and the others involved didn't know quite what to expect when they set up their registration table outside of Salem United Methodist Church, 225 First Avenue SW. They lined up a few donated or loaned out mowers and other supplies.
By 8 a.m., dozens of volunteers were lined up and ready to mow. Some brought mowers, rakes and other equipment. Others brought no equipment, but did bring a willingness to work.
Many gave the same reason for signing up to mow: they hadn’t been able to dedicate much time to flood recovery efforts, but had a free Saturday to help.
First, volunteers were asked to enter one line to register and sign waivers. Next, they stepped to a second line to get yard assignments. Attached were maps to the sites. Volunteers were given more than one yard at a time if they were willing. All were asked to return to the church to check in after yards were completed.
"If you get done and you want to do more, just come back," Larissa said.
Larger groups who gathered to mow as teams included those from various Catholic churches and Hands on Disaster Response. Plastic bags packed with donated supplies -- some from Churches of the Nazarene from across the country -- were offered to each group of mowers: gloves, flashlight, antibiotic ointment, sunscreen, bug spray and twine.
Larissa made it clear that some of the yards hadn’t been touched since before the mid-June record flood. The volunteers were encouraged to clear yards of debris first, move the debris to the curb, mow then rake.
Volunteers without equipment were assigned to groups with the necessary tools. Heather Bee of American Rainbow Tribes Disaster Relief stopped by to offer showers. Her group had set up weeks before in the same church parking lot to offer free meals, and eventually secured a trailer with showers for muckers and other flood-relief volunteers.
By 8:30 a.m., the list was down to less than 20 houses to assign.
"We processed 64 volunteers in less than 30 minutes," AmeriCorps VISTA yearlong member Ann Davidson remarked.
Also assisting were Terry Bergen and Jennifer Sweeney of East Central Iowa United Way assisted, as well as AmeriCorps VISTA member Peyton Smith. Larissa was excited that all homes would be assigned long before the 4 p.m. end-of-day deadline.
"There's no way we’re going to last until 4 p.m.," she said.
Arriving at 9 a.m., about 40 Cornell College students arrived by the busloads to grab garbage bags and hit the streets to pick up debris within a half mile of the church in southwest Cedar Rapids. They would steer clear of yards with mowers at work.
"If you could just get the debris out of the front yard, back yard, anything that's in the way," Larissa explained.
"Be careful. There's lots of sharp objects. Some of these homes have not been touched since the flood," she advised.
Mowing volunteers continued to trickle in. By 9:20 a.m., there were only four homes left to assign of the first 100 or so yards. About 200 homeowners had called the VRC asking for mowing help, but only about 100 had signed the waiver required at the last minute. After it became clear that there were plenty of volunteers on hand, VISTA members began calling homeowners who had not yet signed the form. As the day progressed, the decision was made to tackle yards without the waivers.
And in the end, the volunteers completed about 225 yards.
Volunteer mowing in flood-affected neighborhoods is likely to continue, but Larissa said her group is going to join with other community efforts.
"Out of 4,000 (flood-affected) homes, there's got to be more people who need their lawns mowed," Larissa said.