Boulder's Relief Exchange provides needed assistance for flood victims

Farmer, a Jamestown resident whose home was torn into pieces by the floods, said the Exchange helped her slowly rebuild after losing all her belongings."The experience of losing everything you have surrounded yourself with over the course of time is very disorienting," Farmer said. "You're sleeping in a different bed in someone else's home or a hotel, wearing the few clothes that you were given at the Red Cross center after getting off the helicopter, visiting the Disaster Assistance Center and talking to all the "alphabet soup" of agencies that were there to help, eating box lunches and pizza..."It's just totally overwhelming,Michael Anthony's 8 Kitchen Essentials and to be able to come into the Relief Exchange and just select a few things I needed and know that I could come back when I was ready for more was so very helpful."

While the Relief Exchange receives donations daily and has helped over 2,000 individuals so far, Lynn Fetterman, director of the 4Mile Store and manager of volunteer efforts with the Exchange, said they are just beginning to scratch the surface of helping those affected, still needing more volunteers and donations."We're starting with really basic needs as people try to start over," Fetterman said. "It may seem like it's just stuff if you haven't been affected, but the trauma of being uprooted from your home, your community, your livelihood. It's so hard. Anything helps."Farmer, who now volunteers with the Exchange, said it's the volunteer grassroots structure, the unique and welcoming setup and the sense of community that really sets the Relief Exchange apart from other flood relief organizations.

"There is just a little sign-in sheet when you come in the door, and then you are allowed to take anything and everything you need," said Farmer. "Nobody shepherds you through or gives you a quota like they do at some of the other relief agencies. People come in and shop for overwhelmed friends and stay or come back to help out.""It has been an amazing place to connect with people, both members of the Jamestown community and strangers from Boulder, Lyons, and Longmont, who all have different flood stories and experiences," Farmer said."But we're all in the same boat as far as needing to rebuild our lives. Sure, stuff is only stuff, but community is the lifeblood of my little town."