What happens when you give real people the chance to do the right thing?

Today's Date: October 14th, 2017

I woke up at 4:00am after a long night of grading papers. I've learned not to get excited by these things. It's the weekend, public high school students don't really care, they want to sleep in...so do I. The roads were barren and dark with just the hint of fog drifting through the lower pastures on my drive to school. As I made the final turn into our parking lot, I didn't see any movement. I checked my phone; it was 5:15am. I had this sinking feeling in my gut. I had promised the organizers at www.feedingchildreneverywhere.com/orlandocares2017/ almost 50 cadets to help fill the need they had for 30,000 volunteers to pack an estimated 4.4 million meals for the climate refugees of Puerto- Rico. Their island decimated and nearly scoured from the Earth by hurricane Maria, an estimated 3.4 million US citizens were without electricity, power, clean water, or food. As I scanned the parking lot approaching the building I saw no one. I was alone.
My mind raced with explanations I could offer for canceling on the morning we were expected at 8:00am, or worse, just not showing up or calling. As I passed the bus parking lot, a piercing beacon of white lite lit up the darkness, Mr. Spangler readying the bus. I prepared myself to tell him, not to bother as I rounded the corner to staff parking. My headlights playing across the stone facade of the building. Just then I saw movement in the encompassing darkness of morning; three shapes huddled at a picnic table, near the trees. Three cadets were there before I was! It was 5:20am by the time I got the lights on and the door open for them to come inside. I was amazed and hopeful as they bubbled through the door, laughing and talking loudly; in stark contrast to the shadowed and silent parking lot and athletic fields outside.
I told them to use the restrooms and then wait for others to arrive while I gathered all of the paperwork I would need for the drive to Orlando. At 5:40am I looked over the list of 45 cadets. At least three was something. With Mr. Spangler, myself, and Command Sargeant Major George and his wife, we at least had enough people to staff one table. It would have to do. I loaded my supplies onto the bus and returned to my classroom to lock things up. As I walked down the long, dimly lit hallway usually electric with the shouts of students going to class and now echoing my boot steps in a strange empty way, I heard muted sounds of voices coming from the parking lot where Mr. Spangler had parked the bus. Glancing at my phone one last time before stepping into the sticky morning air; it was 5:46 am. My second surprise of the day came when I saw a literal sea of Black and Tans wafting over the dew covered grass and floating through the Cimmerian shade of morning. At 5:49am I announced "wheels up in 10!" and Mr. Spangler gathered the noisome crowd to go over his bus rules. Calling out each name crisply, they boarded the bus. we had 34 of the 45 cadets who had initially turned in permission forms. the pit in my stomach settled as I made my way to the back of the bus. On the way down the tight aisle, another cadet announced that two cadets were on their way. It was 5:59am and I felt miserable that we could not wait any longer. We had to depart on time; people were depending on us. I was pleasantly surprised when Mr. Spangler pulled over before crossing to 484; the two cadets, realizing that they would not be able to board the bus at school, had parked in a nearby shopping center and were waiting on the sidewalk to meet us. Within minutes we were off and on our way to help the citizens of Puerto- Rico. My mind danced over the last conversation I had with the organizers when they said that they had had trouble getting enough volunteers. At least Marion Military Academy would be there. 36 jovial, talkative high-schoolers had gotten out of bed to help the world rather than think of themselves. This is what it means to be a dedicated JROTC cadet in a small school that still finds the time to have every student and staff member sing happy birthday to every person celebrating being brought into the world.

Hope at first light

We arrived at the Orange County Convention Center at 7:30am, right on time. Cadets disembarked from the bus and the Cadre took over to march them inside.

Arrival at Orange County Convention Center

After a brief bathroom stop, we moved the company down the escalators in preparation of our training session. The cavernous rooms were deserted, and the convention center seemed like a ghost town. Only a handful of other people were there and most of them wore the green or black shirts that identified them as the event organizers.

Did that wall move?

BNXO  Medrano impressed by several cadets form

Inspection.SM Juarez inspects the cadets to make certain they are in proper uniform

Cadets receive training before being assigned to a station

That's a lot of food!

Going to our stations. We had 6 of the 7 stations in our area

After a brief training session, we were lead into the main hall where other volunteers were already setting up tables for teams to work.

setting up meal boxes and prepping a station

Cadets survey what food items they need from the walls of pallets surrounding the staging area.

Why does he get to just take pictures?

Cadets waiting to be resupplied

Cadet steps up to get his own supplies and resupplies other tables too

Another station packing meals

CSM George literally did the heavy lifting all day. 8 boxes high 4 columns per pallet, 24 meals per box

Stations stayed well supplied by myself and Mr. Spangler all day. As "go-fers" we kept everyone in our section able to work as fast and expediently as possible

Our cadets worked hard from 8:00am until 11:15am and manned six of the seven tables in our section. Mr. Spangler, CSM George and me were feeling the burn and I was soaked from sweating, but Feeding Children Everywhere kept the music thumping, the water bottles flowing, and the snacks plentiful. The three adults used our brief times in between stocking and stacking to engage the cadets in mini-lessons about math- If they need 4.4 million meals boxed and we complete "X" meal boxes what percentage of the total did we fill? We also talked about Biology- as we used analogies to our unit on viruses and host cells to describe our activities. Throughout the day we remarked on how incredible it was to see every race, every religion, every age group, and every nationality working together; a literal sea of humanity reaching out to help those in need.

A sea of colors!

When it came time to leave, we were tired, hot and soaked with sweat, but expectant as we tallied our work. 14 pallets completed wit four columns of eight boxes, each containing 24 meals plus a single box we almost missed; a grand total of 10,776 meals packed and 1000 brochures of hope sent out to those who might like to come and rebuild their life in Ocala as part of our family. We felt accomplished when we looked over the boxes we had for those who need it most on the ravaged island of Puerto- Rico. Marion Military Academy made a difference this day! It was time to resupply our tables, clean our areas and then make room for some fresh volunteers.

On our way out we stopped long enough to look back over the crowd and everyone stopped to watch our cadets march by. Several people reached out to shake their hands and one energetic woman yelled out jokingly, "I was in the Air Force for 25 years, get them in step!" It was a day of really hard work, yet rewarding in a way many of us had never felt.

By the time our shift ended there were over a thousand people packing meals. Faith in humanity...RESTORED!

So what do high school kids want to do after waking up before the sun on a Saturday, riding on a bus for almost two hours, and packing enough meals to feed almost 11,000 climate refugees in need? EAT of course! Mr. Spangler had a special reward in store for them. A stop at the worlds most unique McDonald's. Even I was impressed as I plodded through the door to let the manager know about 50 ravenous teenagers were about to descend upon her crew. This McDonald's has everything: a pizza section, self-ordering kiosks, a separate full-service dessert bar, and an observation area where hungry guests can watch fresh Belgian waffles being made or smell the savory goodness of made from scratch omelets being prepared. Most of our cadets immediately ordered more food than any normal human should consume in one sitting, but who could begrudge them a good meal after working so industriously? I ordered a vegetarian pizza and collapsed in a heap atop an ornate looking stool overlooking the bustling pizzeria. Cadets disappeared one after another as if being drawn into a black hole when they discovered the second-floor game room. Where in the world does that energy come from? Some chose to just sit and enjoy the camaraderie with some really great food.

We boarded the bus, too tired to care about the stifling heat. One after another, cadets slumped into their seats and after roll call, earbuds went in, eyelids drooped closed and as if by some act of magic, the bus fell almost silent. We arrived back at our school on time at 2:00pm. There was a last mad dash to the restrooms and, as quickly as they had appeared in the murky shadows of the morning, they disappeared into the fading sun of the afternoon. As I sat at the desk with the few stragglers, I was forced to question my beliefs shaped by public schools over the course of twenty-two years in the classroom. I had always fought to get students and parents involved and here I was, at a school of just under 200 students and they had just accomplished something amazing.