California Mission Trip 2024 - DAY 3





Going to Tiny Pine



Kirsten beat everyone to the kitchen this morning and was making scrambled eggs before many of us were even awake. Others including Brenda made bacon. And the basic take away from today’s breakfast was that we’re going to need a lot more food as the group is a lot larger than previous one!


We departed our house at 7:45 am to meet Alyssa, the founder and key employee of the Tiny Pine Foundation.





Alyssa explained to us what she hoped we would accomplish this week. First thing we needed to do was unload a trailer of scrap, etc., from another jobsite. Julian then cleaned out the back of the Tiny Pine utility truck.





Alyssa explained to us what she hoped we would accomplish this week. First thing we needed to do was unload a trailer of scrap, etc., from another jobsite. Julian then cleaned out the back of the Tiny Pine utility truck.



Kirsten beat everyone to the kitchen this morning and was making scrambled eggs before many of us were even awake. Others including Brenda made bacon. And the basic take away from today’s breakfast was that we’re going to need a lot more food as the group is a lot larger than previous one!


We departed our house at 7:45 am to meet Alyssa, the founder and key employee of the Tiny Pine Foundation.





With the proper supplies, a group of 7 went to a home that a woman named Pat is currently building. The road there was treacherous but the view was worth the risk.





We arrived and we unloaded both of the trucks with materials and food we needed for the day, and we introduced ourselves to Pat.





Then it was time to get to work. Kirsten seemed to have found a magic carpet.







We went on lunch break when we insulated about 40% of the home. The break would have been much earlier if all the members of the team took their tasks seriously.





We enjoyed the sandwiches that we made in the morning before we left. After our lunch break, we got back to work. Jay and Frank were installing the insulation upstairs while Cam, Aiden, Debby, and Kirsten were installing insulation downstairs. While stapling the insulation, Cam hit his pointer finger with the staple gun. But that couldn't stop us, and we continued to work. At the end of the work day, we managed to get about 80% of the insulation done in the house. We are looking forward to insulating and sheetrocking Pat’s home tomorrow.


Six of us stayed at the Tiny Pines headquarters. We unpacked a huge box of donated clothes. We then had to carry up the clothes, load by load, so they could be sorted and put away. We spent a lot of time working on figuring out what belonged where.







After sorting out the new clothes, we proceeded to tidy up the shelves in the loft. A little boy came up to us and asked if we had any clothes in his size. He was overjoyed when he found a dress shirt and a Spiderman shirt. We later learned Spiderman was one of his favorite superheroes. It made me feel really good to help this kid find something he loved.


While looking for clothes, a gentleman learned that Brenda traveled from Connecticut to help people like himself. He broke down into tears.





Mike used the group’s van to drive an older couple back to their relative’s home. They walked nearly 2 miles to pick up some items the help them get their feet back onto the ground. During the ride, they explained that they lost their home in Paradise in the Camp Fire. They left Paradise to live elsewhere, and yesterday, they were forced to evacuate from their present home. They assumed they lost their home to the Park Fire and were just awaiting word of the destruction of their home.





Throughout the day, there was a constant stream of people arriving at the Tiny Pine headquarters. Most stayed for hours, taking with other fire survivors, sharing their stories with each other, and just finding solace with others in the same situation as themselves. Thankfully, interspersed with some of those cars were people arriving to drop off donations of items in high demand: tents, sleeping bags, flashlights, diapers, dog and cat food, and a variety of other things.


Overall, we had a great first day of working and are looking forward to the next few days.


(This report was a compilation of input from various members of the Mission Trip Team.)