Day 9 September 14th, Saturday

Day 9 September 14th, Saturday

This was day 2 without water in Chattanooga which seemed ironic since we were passing out waters all week before, now everyone needed it. I noticed places the previous night that had plenty of water, but it would or could reach a critical level of need. I decided to purchase an additional 120 Little Debbie snacks and 4 more cases of water to pass out.

This day I was bringing 2 of my boys, Owen and Everett who are 7 and 5 to help. The first time they went with Daddy they made peanut butter and jelly and passed out waters. When your children assist you must always be considerate of their needs, and I knew they could be very helpful when I was in town. They got to see what helping people is all about and I hope to teach them to be responsible in their communities for others in need.

It didn’t take long to efficiently disperse what we had. The cooler only holds so much water and ice so when I refill it for a second time that batch is not as cold. I always feel that I could do better. We would need a much larger cooler or just have the city put in water fountains.

My aim is to make common sense application to implement particularly useful and impactful tools for improved daily life. We can simply install water fountains, public restrooms, and public showers on many different levels. Either temporary or permanent, on a case by case or first come basis. There are a multitude of simple, quick, and relatively inexpensive solutions that are proven.

Little Debbie Tent Riverbend 2017

Until these things are started, the best option is some way is to hand out water in plastic bottles and bagged food from a truck.

Joshua David Kapellusch

Day 8 September 13th, Friday

Day 8 September 13th, Friday

At this point in the Fallen 5 Drive I spent every night out in the streets either in the truck, on the ground, or in a friend’s car with more leg room. I didn’t anticipate having so many supplies for myself and feeding or watering about 50 people per day. It was quite a challenge to have all that packed in there and lay comfortably. Also, working out during the trip didn’t help with my comfort levels! In other words, I was growing tired. The weather was great except for one day when it rained for about an hour and I had to use the tarp roof.

This day was Friday the 13th and it was a full harvest moon as well! This was going to be a special day and evening. Each Friday any city livens up from people getting off after a long weekend. Tourists also flourish the city seeking all Chattanooga has to offer.

This day was special because Chattanooga was out of water! Late Thursday evening the 3 foot water main burst causing the water for the entire city to be out! This day we were out in the heat passing out waters and burritos. We felt rich as we gave water when there were so many without. I intended on giving freely before the water outage, but to know the people that needed it most were getting it was particularly special. We were happy to help anyone in need!

Later that evening my boys were planned to be with me downtown, but with the water outage we decided to stay outside of the city. As a parent it is always important to put them first so we camped out in the camper.

Joshua David Kapellusch