OUTSIDERS LEND HELPING HAND

COMMERCE -- The volunteer experience for Colorado and Michigan teen-agers, who have helped Southeast Missouri flood victims the past three days, was as pure as the toast that anointed it.

"Let's have a toast for JLC and HBC, courtesy of Anheuser-Busch," shouted Barb Lemke, pastor of Joy Lutheran Church of Parker, Colo.

The volunteers, many of whom were tossing soggy sandbags into the bucket connected to a yellow tractor in Commerce Wednesday, left their posts to slake their thirsts with cans of distilled water donated by the St. Louis-based brewery.

"A little water break for a good cause," said one of the volunteers, the letters on her T-shirt smeared with river mud and sweat as she hoisted one of the white cans of distilled water into the air.

The break was short-lived, however, as the volunteers realized they had plenty of work left before their departure at 4:30 a.m. today. On Tuesday volunteers removed 10,000 sandbags in the Red Star and Meadowbrook areas.

"They did us a big favor because we had a lot of people working on other recovery projects," Tom Hinkebein, a Cape Girardeau firefighter, said. "When Barb Lemke realized we only had one wheelbarrow in Red Star, she went out to Lowes and bought six more. She's going to leave them here, and they will be divided up between different agencies."

Hinkebein and Cape Girardeau police officer Betty Knoll coordinated the flood cleanup project. "We sent them to the homes in Red Star, Dutchtown and Commerce that had the most damage and needed the most urgent help," Hinkebein said.

Although most of the volunteers hail from towns outside of Cape Girardeau and Commerce, there were two local teen-agers who pitched in on Wednesday.

"I heard that they needed some help from our pastor's wife at St. Mark Lutheran so I came down," Matt Hawkins, 14, of Cape Girardeau said. "It's good to meet people from other towns and work for a good cause."

Hawkins was joined in Commerce by Julie Eller, 13, of Cape Girardeau.

Shannon Bowden, 14, who volunteered her services as a member of the Haslett Baptist Church of Haslett, Mich., said she enjoyed laboring under a hot sun.

"As long as you know you're doing it to help someone, the heavy sandbags and mud aren't that big of a deal," she said. "Actually I like this kind of work. It's good for you."

Bowden was literally working her way to a more entertaining afternoon the following day. "We're going to Six Flags (near St. Louis) before we head back," she beamed. "I've never been there before." She was looking forward to riding the roller coaster.

Nathan Albrecht and Brian Robideaux, both 17 and members of the Joy Lutheran Church, experienced an emotional roller-coaster while helping flood victims.

"Some people in Cape Girardeau didn't seem that appreciative of what we were doing, but that's cool," Albrecht said. "We're doing it for our own gratification, not anyone else's."

There were others who went out of their way to provide refreshments and offer heart-felt thanks. "All it takes is one thank you or a glass of lemonade and your day is made," Robideaux said.

Both had their knees taped to protect them from scraping against the windowsills of Commerce Mayor Roy Jones' home. "We're old hands at this," quipped Albrecht, mindful of the experience of helping flood victims in Alexandria, Mo., last year.

Once Jones finished taping Albrecht and Robideaux, he had another volunteer awaiting the same treatment. "I'm called upon to do different things on different days," Jones said. "Today it's a little first-aid and whatever else comes along."

The volunteer groups, which included about 28 teen-agers from Colorado and Michigan, were housed by St. Mark Lutheran Church and Red Star Baptist Church.

David Claiborne, 14, celebrated his 15th birthday two days early. "They took me out to Ryan's Steakhouse and thoroughly embarrassed me," Claiborne said. "Actually, it was a lot of fun. They even gave me dessert just because it was my birthday."

Claiborne said, "If they needed help here next year, I would volunteer again."