‘A semblance of normalcy.’ How one team did what it could to help another in need.
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Flooding in Eastern Kentucky
“Catastrophic” flash flooding hit parts of Eastern Kentucky July 28, 2022.
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On the field, Doug Charles has plenty to be proud of as the head football coach at Lexington Christian Academy.
Charles became the Eagles’ head coach before the 2019 season, and has since compiled a combined record of 34-5, including two straight trips to the Class 2A state title game.
But it was an act of service on Sunday that led to what Charles called “easily one of my proudest days” in 42 consecutive seasons of coaching.
In the aftermath of devastating flooding that hit Eastern Kentucky in recent days, Charles and members of the LCA football program spent Sunday at Breathitt County High School in Jackson.
While there, they helped clear out items from the Bobcats’ football facilities — which became covered in mud and soaked in water as a result of flooding — and brought items back to Lexington for cleaning and safe keeping.
“Our people truly stepped up in a big way,” Charles told the Herald-Leader on Monday night.
Charles said there were less than 12 hours between confirming cleanup plans with Breathitt County head coach Kyle Moore on Saturday night and LCA departing for Jackson on Sunday morning.
Making the trip from Lexington to Eastern Kentucky were about 30 people, food, generators, lights, tools, five trucks and a box truck. Teams, athletes and other youth groups from all across Central and Eastern Kentucky have been contributing to cleanup and relief efforts since the flooding took lives, destroyed homes and threatened futures around the region last week.
With several feet of water and mud found both outside and inside Breathitt County’s football facilities, members of the LCA program recovered everything from playing equipment like cleats, helmets and shoulder pads, to past trophies (Breathitt County won Class 2A state championships in 1995, 1996 and 2002) and signed footballs to clean and preserve.
“I know that football right now isn’t the most important thing with all these multiple tragic circumstances all over Eastern Kentucky, but I also know that the game of football has a very unique thing about it,” Charles said. “It can rally and bind people and that community has a lot of tradition and a lot of pride in that program.”
“I really believe that helping get that program resurrected and playing as soon as possible is a very worthy and worthwhile thing.”
When Charles, his coaching staff, players and other affiliated team members arrived in Jackson (about a 90-minute drive from Lexington) on Sunday morning, they found no electricity and about 4 to 5 feet of standing water.
After loading up vehicles with the muddied mementos of Breathitt County football past and present, they were transported to Lexington, where Charles said about 50 people were waiting to help properly clean the dirtied items.
“We pressure washed everything and then hand scrubbed everything and then we sanitized it and we dried everything and then we took Clorox wipes to everything,” Charles explained. “Then we put it up, we’ve got these huge fans, and we’ve got it all drying and everything’s back.”
Charles said he’s been humbled by the response and subsequent media attention that’s followed this act from his LCA program.
“We’re very intentional about having servants’ hearts and helping those in need and trying to make a positive difference in that,” Charles added.
The trip even brought out moments of humanity from those in the traveling LCA group unrelated to the Breathitt County football team.
Charles said that at one point Sunday, he turned around and saw about 10 members of the LCA team helping move furniture out of houses in a neighborhood near Breathitt County High School.
“I know that community and those players and that whole town and county needs something positive and something that has a semblance of normalcy,” Charles said about doing his part to help the Breathitt County program. “We’re not heroes by any stretch. We’re just human beings that felt called to try to do something instead of the normal thoughts and prayers.”
Charles said the plan is for the cleaned equipment and memorabilia to be returned to the Breathitt County program in Richmond sometime this week.
This story was originally published August 2, 2022 at 7:55 AM.
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