AUGUSTA, Ga. () – Here in Augusta, a group of volunteers from all over the country is assisting with Hurricane Helene clean up. 

Team Rubicon consists of former military members. In January, Allen Odum, owner of Pond Maintenance of Augusta, began hosting weekly dinners for these volunteers. 

Thursday night’s dinner was sponsored by Coastal Waste. As local restaurants are learning about these dinners, some are stepping up to donate food. 

But this week was a bit different. Volunteers received surprise Valentine’s Day goodie bags from local residents showing their appreciation.

Odom says it’s an honor to be able to feed the volunteers and wants everyone to feel welcome.

“I think we have a good community here and I want people who come here as visitors. I want them to leave with a good taste in their mouth about Augusta, Georgia, that’s kind of why I volunteered in the first place.”  Odom says. 

Colleen Martinez has volunteered with Team Rubicon for 4 years now. She says she was awestruck at the devastation from Helene here in the CSRA. 

Martinez says, “We drive through the neighborhoods, there are the families that we’re helping, and then we’re just going ‘can we help them, can we help them. Can we help them’ because it’s like, there’s so many.”

Jeffrey Marshburn is the Incident Commander for the operation here in Richmond County. 

He says the volunteers make many sacrifices and their work does not go unnoticed by the people in our community. 

Martinez says making personal connections with the homeowners and listening to their stories is her favorite part. 

She says she wants to stay with the team and continue to bring joy into families’ homes for as long as she is able. 

“I just keep going back to, every single family, maybe we can’t help everybody, but we can connect with some people that need help.” Martinez says.

The team has been here for a total of 131 days and does not plan on leaving any time soon.