Haiti Packing Party

     Whew!  What a whirlwind!  Thanks to several hearty volunteers from church and a dear co-worker, we packed ten 33" x 16" x 14" trunks for our upcoming trip.  We scheduled two days for a "come and go, look and see" packing party.  Curious about what we are shipping?  Want to see how much 1,000 bars of hotel soap is, or what a pile of 200+ tote bags looks like?  How much stuff can you cram into one 33" x 16" x 14" trunk?  This was the place to be to see it.  We packed tote bags, soaps, toothpaste / toothbrushes, gallon size ziplock bags (for bagging rice and beans), sewing kits, hard candies, tennis balls, MREs, etc.  And it all had to be broken out into easy access to the supplies for both morning and afternoon distribution runs.  No time to sort and repack once we reach Haiti.  It took us roughly 10 hours over several days to assemble, organize and pack all of our supplies.



Our supplies ready to ship to Haiti

     Since the trunks, weighing 50-60# each, were sitting in my living room, I was designated the "shipper."  After weighing pricing options between the two large shipping companies, the choice was made.  I dutifully printed off 10 shipping labels, oh so neat and perfect.  Pick-up time for the trunks was set.  The doorbell rang.  "Uh......"  Long pause from the delivery man, never a good thing.  "Where are the barcodes on the labels?"

     D'uh!!  I had a hunch I goofed somewhere.  Up to this point, it had all gone much too smoothly.  Not to worry.  Being the kind, uber customer service delivery man that he was, he told me how to rectify the situation - and he even gave me his cell phone number on the truck so I could call him when I had everything relabeled.  Several hours and ten shiny new barcoded shipping labels later, I called the delivery man back and said the trunks were set to go.

Thanks, Frank!

     104 stops later, he was back at my door.  He showed me how to scan the labels as he carted them off to his truck.  (I can't imagine hoisting boxes back and forth all day, every day.  Ouch!)  We got to talking about Haiti and all the heartache and poverty down there.  I told him to think about going on one of our trips; he said he didn't think he could handle the heartbreak.  "I wish I could do something to help them, though."

     "You ARE!!," I told him.  "You are helping us get our supplies down there.  Without you and your shipping company, we couldn't do what we are doing."
     From start to finish, many hands participated in the Haiti Packing Party.  Donors.  Packers.  Shippers.  Thanks, everyone!