Upgrading and outfitting of the 36-foot trailer – a six-month, $15,000 project – was carried out by St. Andrews Church with volunteer assistance and donations from Campbell Memorial Church and Wesley Church in Weems, Va., Milden Church in Sharps, Va., Tappahannock (Va.) Church, and a number of local community organizations.
The basic trailer, purchased in heavily used condition in February, sat in St. Andrews’ parking lot while it was refurbished and outfitted by 73 volunteers providing more than 1,100 hours of labor to convert it into a fully equipped bathing facility. It is equipped with eight showers, four vanity-type washbasins, and two large utility sinks attached to the trailer’s tongue. Hookups have been installed for water, electricity, and sewerage, plus propane for two high-efficiency, “on demand” water heaters.
St. Andrews’ Mission Outreach Committee organized the project and church member Paul A. Ryan, of Browns Store, Va., managed it. Pastor Thomas R. Coye of Kilmarnock, Va., and congregation member Anthony J. Stanley, of White Stone, saw how a shower trailer benefited volunteers during a second mission trip they made to Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. They proposed the idea as a mission effort.
“This project enlarged our circle of friends beyond St. Andrews,” Catherine J. “Kaye” Ortiz, moderator of the church’s Mission Outreach Committee, said. “Our sister Presbyterian churches became our partners in the effort. Community members got involved with both building and funding. [PDA] has been an active supporter. All of our efforts together have created a larger spiritual community. This has been a fun and rewarding project.”
The shower trailer is showered with sparkling water August 10 at St. Andrews Church in Kilmarnock, Va., before it began the trek to the Gulf Coast. The church donated the shower trailer to be used at Olive Tree Volunteer Village, maintained near New Orleans by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to house volunteers repairing Gulf Coast homes damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. From left are: Catherine J. “Kaye” Ortiz, moderator of the church’s Mission Outreach Committee; Pastor Thomas R. Coye, of Kilmarnock; and Paul J. Ryan, of Browns Store, project manager for constructing the trailer with showers and washbasins. Photo by Bill Kling, used by permission.
