During the final show of NOAC 2018, we heard a lot about what Decide Your Destiny truly means and how even the small actions we commit can have big impacts on our everyday lives. Well, the Arrowmen within Bigfoot Lodge took this idea to heart and decided to act upon it in a big way. Over the past few weeks, we have seen a vast number of areas across the U.S. being slammed by heavy rainfalls and one of the heaviest hit areas across the United States is the state of Wisconsin.
The northern parts of Wisconsin have seen anywhere between five to eight inches of rainfall within just the past few weeks and the southwest, south central and eastern parts of Wisconsin were hit even harder as they have seen anywhere between ten to fifteen inches of rainfall. With this extreme amount of rainfall in such a short period of time, there have been numerous reports of flooding across the entire state.
When these floods were occurring across southern Wisconsin where Bigfoot Lodge is based, the Lodge Chief Noah G., heard that some of the local troops including his own were planning to help out. This is where he saw an opportunity to help. He thought this would be the perfect time for his fellow Arrowmen to really commit to the main principles within our Order and help out as well. With this in mind, he sent out a call to action to all of the Arrowmen within his lodge. He encouraged them to lend a helping hand within their local communities in any way possible, no matter what the task may be. This idea turned out to be a major success as they have seen an overwhelming number of Arrowmen from within Bigfoot Lodge volunteer their time to help out their communities.
These volunteers have worked to fill sandbags that help divert flood waters and helped to clean up houses and stores throughout their communities. When asked about what inspired him to get his lodge involved with relief efforts, Noah had simply stated that, “Service in the Order of the Arrow doesn’t always have to be to Scouting or at a camp. Our community needed help so we stepped up.”
Their volunteer efforts since August 28th are still ongoing. They are currently working to help their communities prepare for more flooding. Bigfoot Lodge’s humble actions serve as a reminder to us all: that our service need not be limited to Scouting, but that our service can impact the community. We wish all of our brothers that were impacted by these floods a quick road to recovery and that they remain safe throughout the rest of their relief efforts.
