Coulee Region Hearts and Hammers is a non-denominational organization of volunteers from throughout an area of western Wisconsin who come together to help rebuild lives and restore hope. We are all gifted with different talents and skills, and we believe everyone has something to offer others when disaster strikes or a tragedy occurs.
Organized in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a group of 13 volunteers travelled to Ocean Springs, MS to help rebuild homes. With a core group from Mindoro-Lewis Valley Lutheran Churches, even that first group of 13 had several members representing different churches, faiths and communities. The group grew as more and more volunteers joined in our efforts, and three more trips were made to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to help with residential construction projects, remodel an warehouse to house volunteer workers, deliver much-needed food and supplies for a distribution center, and even deliver a trailer-load of Christmas gifts in December 2007.
More recently, the group took on a neighborhood project to remodel a home for a young woman in the Holmen area with special physical needs. When the severe floods hit the tri-state area in the summer of 2008, Hearts and Hammers volunteers assisted in clean-up efforts in communities like Rock Springs, Fond du Lac, Avoca, Rushford, MN and Grand Forks, ND.
The group is currently working in cooperation with a medical team from a local hospital, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, to gather clothing and quilting materials as well as deliver medical equipment to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota. A second trailer loaded more than 100 boxes of good quality clothing were delivered by Hearts and Hammers team members in mid-February.
When the earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, the team immediately responded with a “Tents for Haiti” project. Volunteers picked up tents no longer being used at Girl Scout camps throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. Hearts and Hammers volunteers then refurbished the tents, making sure each was in good condition, adding appropriate tent stakes, ridge poles, new rope cut in the proper lengths, everything necessary for set up each tent was included, even mallets, hammers and mauls. The tents were packed on pallets, shipping boxes were constructed, and 161 tents were shipped by Hot Line Freight System of West Salem to Bluffton, Indiana, where they were sent on to Haiti by Harvest International. The remaining 252 tents were shipped by Badger Corrugating of La Crosse to St. Paul, MN where they were sent on to Haiti by World Wide Village, Inc. Both trucking firms donated their services. It is estimated the cost of purchasing these tents new would exceed $220,000, not counting shipping. It is also estimated that the tents could provide shelter for about 3,000 Haitians.
