After Category 3 Hurricane Idalia swept through Florida at the end of August, it didn’t take long before relief workers and volunteers came to help strangers reset homes and lives that were wrecked by the storm.

Twenty-six volunteers from Lexington, part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, traveled at their own expense and time the weekend of Sept. 16 to aid in the Lake City, Live Oak and Jennings area of Florida.

The volunteers joined more than 5,500 other members and volunteers in the community, completing more than 102,000 hours of service, according to a press release from the church’s Aiken stake, which encompasses the Lexington congregation and other locations.

For Kevin Carlisle, the trip took on a different level of meaning, as his children Jackson Carlisle, 17, and Maizeigh Carlisle, 15, joined him. Carlisle has volunteered for relief trips at least eight times, and to bring his children to witness the devastation and help others was important to him.

“There’s something special about a service opportunity and coming in to help people who feel helpless whether it’s mucking out a house or taking down a tree. You can sort of see where hope is returning,” said Carlisle. “It goes from ‘What am I going to do’ to ‘Now I got this.’ It’s hard to put into words without the experience.”

Another Lexington volunteer and member of the church, Michael Whetstone, has also been on about 10 relief trips he recalls. He recalls telling his grandchildren about the trips and then having them experience it for themselves.

“I do a lot of hiking and when I first started hiking, I would them a story about the beautiful views and take pictures. Then I took videos and showed them. No matter how many times someone tells you a story or video, you can’t experience and feel it until you’re there with all of your senses,” Whetstone said. “There might be lots of pictures but that doesn’t show the devastation. To be able to experience it will change your art. When you go down there you feel like helping to feel better and when you come back you’ve been touched and done what you can do to help. The impact upon your heart and life is significant.”

The volunteers went down there after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did initial clean up, helping salvage possessions, clean up homes and yards among other duties. 

The group from Lexington was able to bring their own tools and even a tractor owned by one of the volunteers. They slept in tents and camped out where they wouldn’t be a burden to others.

“The county gave us a place to camp out and we were told to come down there and not put a burden on the area. We took our own tents and food,” Whetstone said, adding there were portable showers and restrooms as well.

While the circumstances regarding the reason for the trip are tragic, the volunteers emphasize the gratitude they felt from homeowners and residents. They helped out people whose homes had mainly wind damage, so they dealt with fallen trees as opposed to flooding.

“We removed fallen trees from damaged homes and hanging limbs off trees. In one case there was an elderly couple whose husband has dementia and part of his daily routine is walking. The wife was scared for the husband and [the damage] was disruptive to his daily routine,” Carlisle recalled. “There’s another family with an autistic child and outdoor play was a part of their daily routine.”

Whetstone said he also has stories, but talking about them may make him cry.

“It’s wonderful to help someone that’s been through a terrible thing. It’s been a short time since the occasion so their feelings are tender and when they let you know what they’ve been through and how they’ve been challenged and tested you can’t help but feel compassion and gratefulness,” he offered.