Operation Snowvid - A Feel Good Story

[Deleted]

I’ve talked about this in the “What are you doing right now” thread, but I’m so proud of the people in my community that I want to sing their praises to the world.

I’m a member of a local Jeep club, and when our area got blanketed with up to 10” of snow and ice, the members decided to work together to drive healthcare worker to and from work. Our area doesn’t do well at all with snow, FTR.

By Wednesday, they were getting so many requests for rides, I reached out to the lady that was trying to match riders with drivers and asked if I could help her. She put me to work immediately lol. I’d never done anything even close to “dispatching”, and was quickly overwhelmed with the sheer number of requests constantly rolling in. But I stuck with it, and found my groove. And that’s been all I’ve been doing literally every waking hour, until last night.

But y’all, I feel blessed to have been a part of something that was so beautiful, happening in my community. The city is a high crime area, and there’s been racial tension around here my whole life. But this week, nobody cared about race, political views, or any of the other things that tend to divide us. It was all about helping our healthcare employees be able to care for the patients that needed them, and the employees trusting our drivers to get them to their destinations safely. 

Then, yesterday, we got word that the area hospitals were in desperate need of water, due to busted pipes and low pressure because our utility had 2 water mains down. So my fellow Jeepers jumped on that, trying to find water to buy out of their own pockets. Then someone said he had a pallet of water to donate. Then a few local companies donated more pallets, which was great, because most of the stores were out. At one point yesterday, there was a convoy of 8 Jeeps and 4x4 trucks loaded down with water, headed to our children’s hospital to deliver. They also delivered water to every healthcare facility they could get to, that said they needed it. They’re still picking up and delivering as I type.

In between all of that, they pulled out countless people that had gotten stuck in the snow, including at least 1 police car and a few ambulances that I know of. At least 1 Jeep pulled out a semi (no trailer) stuck in the snow. I had NO idea a Jeep Wrangler could do that with the right driver skills and recovery gear lol.

Several Jeeps had something break, and every time one broke down, other Jeepers showed up to help. “Help”, as in at one point several were in a hospital parking lot in the snow and bitter cold, helping to fix another driver’s Jeep.

We had 2 businesses invite the drivers over for lunch they’d bought for them yesterday. The offered the use of their heated garage bays and tools for those that wanted/needed to check over their Jeeps or make minor repairs. A man that works for one of the 4x4 stores drove from southwest TN almost to Kentucky to pick up a part and bring it back, for one of the drivers that had a bit more serious mechanical failure. The ones whose Jeeps developed mechanical issues, seemed more upset that they had to stop helping than their Jeep being broke. The drivers were the more experienced Jeepers, and the ones that go off-roading are use to breaking stuff on their Jeeps, so I’m guessing that’s why their perspective was what it was.

I’ve witnessed so many amazing things over the past few days. The healthcare workers repeatedly expressed how grateful they were for the help, and kept asking what they could do since the drivers wouldn’t accept money from them. The drivers’ responses were always either “just keep doing what you do for the people that are sick and need you” or “we’re just trying to repay you all for everything you’ve done and dealt with during the pandemic”. A few determined people “accidentally” dropped money in the drivers’ vehicles for them to find later, others gave them thank you cards and notes, and a few came out for their rides with food, drinks and/or home baked sweets for their driver. I can’t count the number of employees that showered me personally with their gratitude, just for arranging a ride for them.

I’ve neglected my house and myself, while I was working on that. I washed my faces and brushed my teeth every day, but I don’t think I even took a shower Thursday, because after about 14 hours straight, sitting at my kitchen table, I was exhausted and just wanted to climb into bed. I’m finally trying to do something with my hair today. I also burned through all the data on my cell plan for this month and had to work with just my IPad and phone, because my cable and internet were out until last night, so I couldn’t use my desktop and had no wifi.

I did my part behind the scenes, but it helped the drivers a lot having us getting the necessary info and just telling them where to go and when and info on who they were picking up, so they could just focus on driving. I made schedules for a few of the drivers ahead of time, every day, grouping passengers together from the same areas, going to the same parts of town, to limit some of the back and forth and driving in circles. That meant those drivers already had routes set up, and all they had to do was go. I was better at that, and the lady I was helping was better at working on the fly as requests came in for immediate needs, though I helped with that too. I think we made a great team. 

I know this was a super long post, but being a part of “Operation Snowvid” really made me happy. I do enjoy helping people in general, but this was beyond anything I’ve ever done, and all it cost me was my time. And I’m definitely pleased to be a member of the Jeep group that showed up and showed out this week. I’ve “met” some awesome people during this, and I’m looking forward to meeting them in person, even a few of the healthcare employees have vowed to stay in touch, others have declared they will be buying their own Jeeps after this. My heart if full after seeing firsthand so much of the best of humanity shining and what can happen when people work together to be kind and take care of each other.

Color me grateful and blessed.

[Deleted]

Nope, Pink@pinkcshmere, I'll color you amazing.  I'm grateful and blessed to meet you here in this community.  

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2021 18:26:00 GMT -5 @donethat said:

Nope, Pink@pinkcshmere, I'll color you amazing.  I'm grateful and blessed to meet you here in this community.  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

Feb 20, 2021 18:23:15 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I’ve talked about this in the “What are you doing right now” thread, but I’m so proud of the people in my community that I want to sing their praises to the world.

I’m a member of a local Jeep club, and when our area got blanketed with up to 10” of snow and ice, the members decided to work together to drive healthcare worker to and from work. Our area doesn’t do well at all with snow, FTR.

By Wednesday, they were getting so many requests for rides, I reached out to the lady that was trying to match riders with drivers and asked if I could help her. She put me to work immediately lol. I’d never done anything even close to “dispatching”, and was quickly overwhelmed with the sheer number of requests constantly rolling in. But I stuck with it, and found my groove. And that’s been all I’ve been doing literally every waking hour, until last night.

But y’all, I feel blessed to have been a part of something that was so beautiful, happening in my community. The city is a high crime area, and there’s been racial tension around here my whole life. But this week, nobody cared about race, political views, or any of the other things that tend to divide us. It was all about helping our healthcare employees be able to care for the patients that needed them, and the employees trusting our drivers to get them to their destinations safely. 

Then, yesterday, we got word that the area hospitals were in desperate need of water, due to busted pipes and low pressure because our utility had 2 water mains down. So my fellow Jeepers jumped on that, trying to find water to buy out of their own pockets. Then someone said he had a pallet of water to donate. Then a few local companies donated more pallets, which was great, because most of the stores were out. At one point yesterday, there was a convoy of 8 Jeeps and 4x4 trucks loaded down with water, headed to our children’s hospital to deliver. They also delivered water to every healthcare facility they could get to, that said they needed it. They’re still picking up and delivering as I type.

In between all of that, they pulled out countless people that had gotten stuck in the snow, including at least 1 police car and a few ambulances that I know of. At least 1 Jeep pulled out a semi (no trailer) stuck in the snow. I had NO idea a Jeep Wrangler could do that with the right driver skills and recovery gear lol.

Several Jeeps had something break, and every time one broke down, other Jeepers showed up to help. “Help”, as in at one point several were in a hospital parking lot in the snow and bitter cold, helping to fix another driver’s Jeep.

We had 2 businesses invite the drivers over for lunch they’d bought for them yesterday. The offered the use of their heated garage bays and tools for those that wanted/needed to check over their Jeeps or make minor repairs. A man that works for one of the 4x4 stores drove from southwest TN almost to Kentucky to pick up a part and bring it back, for one of the drivers that had a bit more serious mechanical failure. The ones whose Jeeps developed mechanical issues, seemed more upset that they had to stop helping than their Jeep being broke. The drivers were the more experienced Jeepers, and the ones that go off-roading are use to breaking stuff on their Jeeps, so I’m guessing that’s why their perspective was what it was.

I’ve witnessed so many amazing things over the past few days. The healthcare workers repeatedly expressed how grateful they were for the help, and kept asking what they could do since the drivers wouldn’t accept money from them. The drivers’ responses were always either “just keep doing what you do for the people that are sick and need you” or “we’re just trying to repay you all for everything you’ve done and dealt with during the pandemic”. A few determined people “accidentally” dropped money in the drivers’ vehicles for them to find later, others gave them thank you cards and notes, and a few came out for their rides with food, drinks and/or home baked sweets for their driver. I can’t count the number of employees that showered me personally with their gratitude, just for arranging a ride for them.

I’ve neglected my house and myself, while I was working on that. I washed my faces and brushed my teeth every day, but I don’t think I even took a shower Thursday, because after about 14 hours straight, sitting at my kitchen table, I was exhausted and just wanted to climb into bed. I’m finally trying to do something with my hair today. I also burned through all the data on my cell plan for this month and had to work with just my IPad and phone, because my cable and internet were out until last night, so I couldn’t use my desktop and had no wifi.

I did my part behind the scenes, but it helped the drivers a lot having us getting the necessary info and just telling them where to go and when and info on who they were picking up, so they could just focus on driving. I made schedules for a few of the drivers ahead of time, every day, grouping passengers together from the same areas, going to the same parts of town, to limit some of the back and forth and driving in circles. That meant those drivers already had routes set up, and all they had to do was go. I was better at that, and the lady I was helping was better at working on the fly as requests came in for immediate needs, though I helped with that too. I think we made a great team. 

I know this was a super long post, but being a part of “Operation Snowvid” really made me happy. I do enjoy helping people in general, but this was beyond anything I’ve ever done, and all it cost me was my time. And I’m definitely pleased to be a member of the Jeep group that showed up and showed out this week. I’ve “met” some awesome people during this, and I’m looking forward to meeting them in person, even a few of the healthcare employees have vowed to stay in touch, others have declared they will be buying their own Jeeps after this. My heart if full after seeing firsthand so much of the best of humanity shining and what can happen when people work together to be kind and take care of each other.

Color me grateful and blessed.

[TheOtherMe]

  

[Opti]

Good job Pink and Kudos to the group. It sounds like lots of work, but I am sure it was greatly appreciated. 

[Tennesseer]

Good job, @pinkcshmere.  The weather and cold here was truly atrocious and dangerous.

[sesfw]

Pink ...... you are an amazing lady.  Bless you.

And a huge 'bless you guys' to your group of wonderful people
 

[wvugurl26]

Great job. Sounds like a good group of people to know. Maybe it was meant to be when the neighbor left the Jeep.

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2021 19:04:59 GMT -5 Opti said:

Good job Pink and Kudos to the group. It sounds like lots of work, but I am sure it was greatly appreciated. 

It really was a lot of work. We had thousands of requests for rides, and got most of them taken care of, plus all the other stuff the drivers did. And yes, the employees were very appreciative of the help.

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2021 19:10:51 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Good job, @pinkcshmere .  The weather and cold here was truly atrocious and dangerous.

Thank you! Yes, the cold and conditions were horrible! I’m so glad it’s about to warm up some.

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2021 19:19:23 GMT -5 sesfw said:

Pink ...... you are an amazing lady.  Bless you.

And a huge 'bless you guys' to your group of wonderful people
 

Thank you!

They really are a group of wonderful people. I realized that soon after joining their FB group and seeing their posts, now I’m totally convinced!

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2021 19:21:44 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Great job. Sounds like a good group of people to know. Maybe it was meant to be when the neighbor left the Jeep.

Seriously, I thought last night how us buying the old neighbor’s Jeep.... just because.... led me to this awesome group of people and the chance to help do something good for the area I live in over the last few days. I’m a firm believer that many things that seem to be “coincidence “ aren’t really that, these things happen for a reason that might not be revealed for a while. At least, that’s how many things have worked in my own life.

The group doesn’t know it yet, but they’re stuck with me now!

[swamp]

[Anne_in_VA]

Great job to you and your fellow volunteers.  You guys are amazing, especially you for coordinating this effort!

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2021 20:37:58 GMT -5 Anne_in_VA said:

Great job to you and your fellow volunteers.  You guys are amazing, especially you for coordinating this effort!

Thank you!

 I didn’t coordinate the effort, it was thrown together by a few people in the group. I just helped coordinate the rides. I don’t want to take credit for something I didn’t do.

And OAN, (this is in general, not directed toward anything you said), I know that what I did made things a lot easier for the drivers, but I firmly believe that the drivers are the real stars. They were the ones out in the bitter cold, risking their lives and well being, and damage to their vehicles, while I was at home, safe and warm. They were also spending money, constantly filling their gas tanks. We had up to 90 drivers on any given day, and most of them drove hundreds of miles in one day and got right back up a few hours later to do it all over again. Except the ones that drove for hours before or after their work day, but that’s another story. My Wrangler gets about 18 miles/gallon, many that have been modified (most of the experienced Jeep owners have modified their Jeeps) get much less. I have to fill up twice/week just to get back and forth to work, so I know they were spending a bundle on gas. Anyway, I’m just saying that I think that what they did was much more impressive than my role.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

   @pinkcshmere

[nidena]

Who cut all these onions?!?

That was so wonderful to read.

[NancysSummerSip]

Yay Pink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And all your fellow drivers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lizard Queen]

[finnime]

THis is an awesome story. Thank you, @pinkcshmere, for all you and your compatriots did.

[crazycat]

That is so great what you and your fellow jeepers are doing . 
You go girl . Glad you are enjoying it . It just feels so good to help others , doesn’t it . 

[notagain]

The world needs more pink!

[Deleted]

Feb 21, 2021 15:49:40 GMT -5 crazycat said:

That is so great what you and your fellow jeepers are doing . 
You go girl . Glad you are enjoying it . It just feels so good to help others , doesn’t it . 

Yes, it really did feel good!

One thing that was amusing to me, in our minds we were helping the Heroes that work in healthcare get to work. One Jeeper had decorated the windows of her Jeep, and wrote “Hero” with an arrow on her passenger side and back windows.

The healthcare workers kept insisting that the drivers were the true Heroes.

I think we finally settled on calling both camps, the healthcare workers AND the drivers, Heroes.

[gs11rmb]

I look around and see so much doom and gloom and have so many fears for the world my children are inheriting and then I read this type of story.


What a simply wonderful testament to humanity and it reminds me that the vast majority of people are decent and willing to help others in times of need.  Perhaps we don't see it often enough simply because we normally live in times of 'plenty'.  Thank you @pinkcshmere and all the drivers who stepped up during the storm.

[Deleted]

Feb 22, 2021 8:32:52 GMT -5 gs11rmb said:

I look around and see so much doom and gloom and have so many fears for the world my children are inheriting and then I read this type of story.


What a simply wonderful testament to humanity and it reminds me that the vast majority of people are decent and willing to help others in times of need.  Perhaps we don't see it often enough simply because we normally live in times of 'plenty'.  Thank you @pinkcshmere and all the drivers who stepped up during the storm.

I’ve been feeling crazy lately about so many of the things that have happened in our country lately, and that whole thing made me feel so much better and more hopeful. That was why I was so excited about sharing the story, maybe other people also needed to see that there are still a lot of really good people in the world.

I hadn’t interacted much with the group since joining last year, but they’ve embraced me like they’ve known me for years. They’re a warm, funny group of people, and I think I’ve made some lasting connections, maybe even a new friend or 2.

[NastyWoman]

You and all your jeep peeps