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BY CARMEN McCOLLUM
cmccollum@nwitimes.com
219.662.5337 | Thursday, October 09, 2008 | (No comments posted.)
MUNSTER | Sara Teller didn't think too much of it when her mother initially said it had been raining most of the day Sept. 12.
But over the next two days as the rain continued and evacuations began, Teller began to realize the seriousness of the situation.
"To hear that places like the Hammond Clinic, where I've gone for treatment, is closed and underwater was amazing to me," Teller said. "I told my classes about this and told them we've got to do something. You hear about natural disasters happening all over the world, but I've never known anything like this to happen in my hometown."
Teller, 28, graduated from Munster High School in 1998, then went on to earn a degree from Purdue University, West Lafayette in 2002. She taught in the Indianapolis area three years before moving to Arizona three years ago. She teaches English and a class called Service Learner at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The service learner class, with 128 students, is an elective for upper classmen and focuses on volunteerism. Teller put together news clips and video about the flooding in Munster and Northwest Indiana. She began showing the information to her students who collected $800 in gift cards and 23 boxes of cleaning and school supplies for Munster residents.
Teller forwarded six boxes to Munster. Teller and student Erica Ewing, 16, a junior in the Service Learner class, along with Ewing's mother, Debra, flew into the region Tuesday with the money and 17 boxes to distribute to needy residents and schools.
The trio showed up at United Way's temporary headquarters Tuesday at the Lake Business Center. On Wednesday, armed with fliers from United Way and a clipboard to take down information, they went out into the hardest-hit areas in Munster, offering their help and assistance. They delivered boxes to Wilbur Wright Middle School shortly after noon.
The first house they got to in the 8000 block of Crestwood Avenue belongs to the Maddocks family. Milica "Millie" Maddocks sat on the steps inside her living room completing an informational sheet.
"I've been watching for this for 20 years," she said. "Every time it rains, I worry. We got 6 feet of water in the basement and water in the family room. We were evacuated. We stayed with my mother in her one-bedroom apartment in Highland."
This was the first time that Maddocks ever got water. But she's philosophical. She knows it was an act of nature, but she said it was overwhelming for the community. She's looking forward, saying it's time to move on.
Teller and Ewing toured the house and talked to Maddocks about her damage. Ewing used a video camera to record the damage, particularly the basement, which was gutted. Ewing intends to share that with her classmates in Scottsdale.
"I wish I had been here when everything first happened," Ewing said. "This community has shown that they can really pull together to help each other. I feel like I've learned a lot about natural disasters firsthand."
Council recognizes residents' assistance
During its meeting Monday, the Munster Town Council presented plaques to community volunteers Amanda Baltensberger, Liz Gilhooly and Layna VanEermen, who used golf carts to deliver supplies and food to people in flooded neighborhoods. The council thanked the Tiger Cubs who donated $200 to the Munster Relief Foundation on behalf of flood victims. The council released a preliminary list to all of the agencies and communities that assisted the town, and publicly thanked them.
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