Cajun Navy Atlanta
Donation protected
Summary: We organized a crew of Atlantans to provide hurricane relief. Our first trip to pull people out of water in Houston during Hurricane Harvey was successful.
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Our story: Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Houston as a category 4 hurricane, causing massive flooding and chaos.
On Sunday, our crew of 6 (John Melonakos, Clark Seydel, John Balzer, Shane Lovallo, Luel Waktola, and Amber McCord) jumped into 2 cars and headed to Houston. On Monday, we purchased a shallow water boat in New Orleans and joined the Cajun Navy. Then Tuesday, we worked with rescue teams in Louisiana and Texas in heavy rain fighting deep floods. And on Wednesday, we helped with relief efforts in Port Arthur, TX. We used our boat to bring people to safety points where they were shuttled to shelters.
There was a family of 8. There were nursing home tenants. There was a father we brought with us to retrieve his wife and child. And there were all sorts of other rescues along the way.
On Thursday, we converted our boat into a trailer to haul water and other necessities from supply stations into the shelters.
This trip has been valuable yet costly. We would like to minimize costs. With our combined network, we believe we can raise awareness and funds to cover expenses.
The largest cost was the boat which we sold at the end of the trip but not at the full purchase price. We launched this gofundme page to allow our friends to pitch in and also have the opportunity to think about returning with the group.
Follow-up crews will be needed for shelter work and cleanup efforts. We expect this fund will cover some expenses (like gas and housing) for the Atlanta group to make a return to Houston.
If there are leftover donations, we will give them all to a victim relief fund that will be specified shortly.
It's been a blessing to have a flexible schedule and ability to come and serve. Thank you for helping make this possible.
-Cajun Navy Atlanta
(Note: John Melonakos is responsible for the withdrawal and distribution of funds.)
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Houston Trip:










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Our story: Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Houston as a category 4 hurricane, causing massive flooding and chaos.
On Sunday, our crew of 6 (John Melonakos, Clark Seydel, John Balzer, Shane Lovallo, Luel Waktola, and Amber McCord) jumped into 2 cars and headed to Houston. On Monday, we purchased a shallow water boat in New Orleans and joined the Cajun Navy. Then Tuesday, we worked with rescue teams in Louisiana and Texas in heavy rain fighting deep floods. And on Wednesday, we helped with relief efforts in Port Arthur, TX. We used our boat to bring people to safety points where they were shuttled to shelters.
There was a family of 8. There were nursing home tenants. There was a father we brought with us to retrieve his wife and child. And there were all sorts of other rescues along the way.
On Thursday, we converted our boat into a trailer to haul water and other necessities from supply stations into the shelters.
This trip has been valuable yet costly. We would like to minimize costs. With our combined network, we believe we can raise awareness and funds to cover expenses.
The largest cost was the boat which we sold at the end of the trip but not at the full purchase price. We launched this gofundme page to allow our friends to pitch in and also have the opportunity to think about returning with the group.
Follow-up crews will be needed for shelter work and cleanup efforts. We expect this fund will cover some expenses (like gas and housing) for the Atlanta group to make a return to Houston.
If there are leftover donations, we will give them all to a victim relief fund that will be specified shortly.
It's been a blessing to have a flexible schedule and ability to come and serve. Thank you for helping make this possible.
-Cajun Navy Atlanta
(Note: John Melonakos is responsible for the withdrawal and distribution of funds.)
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Houston Trip:

Organizer
John Melonakos
Organizer
Atlanta, GA
