February 2023 Winter ROAR Team Report

This year’s ROAR Team in Tallahassee, Fl. consisted of 30 members and friends of the church. We worked with the Big Bend Habitat For Humanity team at two locations. The main focus for the week was Lillian’s home on Roswell Dr. Lillian and her son Arnold have been working hard to complete the Habitat 400-hour sweat equity requirement before they can move into their new home. Lillian was on site before we were every day of the week and worked tirelessly with the ROAR volunteers to clean up the property. 

Big Bend Habitat wanted to get the interior of Lillians home ready for drywall and prep the exterior for vinyl siding. The interior team installed fiberglass insulation in all exterior walls and rigid insulation on all window and door headers.    They installed cardboard battens between the roof joists to keep blown in insulation inside the attic space and used expanding foam to seal all holes for wiring and piping. Blocking for wall cabinets and toilet fixtures was installed as well as an access port into the attic space.

The site work team worked hard all week clearing brush and debris from the home site. They clipped, sawed, and raked the property and removed discarded material. They filled a very large dumpster to overflowing. Once the ground was raked, they laid sod to keep the ground from eroding when it rains. This was some of the most strenuous work of the week and Lillian was there with the team all week.

The exterior team started with the vinyl siding prep work, installed the vinyl sofit material,  and started to install some siding. Initially, we were to prepare the house for another group to do siding. By Tuesday morning we had a good amount of siding installed so the house boss said, “I guess you may as well finish it now”, so we did.  We erected scaffolding around the house to make material installation easier and to prep for roof work. Again, we were to do the drip edge and a few rows of shingles accessible from the scaffolding. In the end, our roofers had about 90% of the shingles installed by Thursday afternoon.

On Thursday, we sent a small team over to the Disston St. site to install drawer pulls on kitchen cabinets, hang window blinds, install shelving in cabinets and shelving in closets, in preparation for the dedication of that home. Big Bend provided lunch for the Team each day and on more than one occasion, Lillan was there to serve us.  All in all, it was a great week. Initially, it was difficult to find a work site for the February ROAR Team. We were led to the Big Bend Habitat affiliate and Lillian’s home for a reason. The Habitat folks could not have been more welcoming and helpful, and they are anxious for the ROAR Team to return in February 2025.

We had a safe and productive work week. Thanks for the prayers and support the congregation provided throughout the week.

Notes prepared by Terry Reed for the Mission Committee   

Your SSPC ROAR Team returned to Cairo West Virginia from Saturday, September 30 through Friday, October 06, 2023, to work with churches in and near Cairo that needed help with deferred maintenance on their church buildings. Twenty-two members and friends of the church were busy with various tasks throughout the week.

We started the week with worship at Hughes River Presbyterian Church, visiting project sites and a wonderful evening of food and fellowship at the Ritter’s home. 

Monday through Thursday found various ROAR Team groups working on six local churches of various denominations. The Teams power washed buildings, demolished a shed, rebuilt a shed including new doors and hardware, cleaned the interior of sanctuaries and wiped down pews with Murphy’s oil soap, scraped paint, painted, repaired soffits, removed old plumbing piping, built a wall for a storage room, installed new flooring, built new steps, re-decked a ramp, installed metal siding, removed an old exterior door and installed a new door in its place, and repaired a picnic shelter and installed new rain gutters on same.

We stayed at the North Bend Lodge and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner together at Kay’s restaurant in Cairo. Cairo is a pretty area but lacks choices for dining out, but no one went hungry. It was a good week that assisted the local congregations, all of which are struggling with low membership and the ability to maintain their sanctuaries. It was also an opportunity for fellowship within the Team and to reunite with friends made during past mission trips to the Cairo area.

The Team is grateful for the support and prayers of the congregation while we were away.