December 1, 2025 • 26 mins
The call comes after a storm, a flood, or a wildfire—and before the dust settles, the gray shirts are already moving. We sit down with Evan Farley, Northern Virginia Metro Field Operations Coordinator for Team Rubicon, to explore how veteran discipline and civilian grit combine to deliver rapid disaster relief at zero cost to homeowners. From the organization’s roots in Haiti’s 2010 earthquake to a global network 200,000 strong, this is the story of purpose, speed, and practical help when it matters most.
Evan shares how Team Rubicon mobilizes volunteers into clear roles: site survey teams that scope out needs, muck and gut crews that strip out waterlogged materials, chainsaw operators who clear hazards, and the planners and logisticians who make the whole operation run smoothly. Not everyone needs a trades background—attitude and reliability go far. We delve into the details of joining, including straightforward sign-up steps, a low-cost background check for deployers, and what life is like on the ground: cots in gymnasiums, shared meals, and long days that translate into real recovery for families who thought they’d lost everything.
We also dig into the organization’s surprising range. Beyond immediate response, Team Rubicon now runs rebuild programs that put people back into finished homes, pilots a trades academy to grow skills and careers, and adapts to new needs—from COVID vaccination support to helping resettle Afghan families with muscle, logistics, and compassion. Corporate partners, such as Ford and Home Depot, provide funding and volunteer time, thereby multiplying the impact when disasters accumulate. And at the local level, recurring service projects keep teams sharp and communities stronger long before the next siren sounds.
If you’ve been looking for meaningful service after service or a way to turn your free time into real relief, this conversation makes it easy to step in. Join, deploy, donate, or spread the word at teamrubiconusa.org. If this resonated, follow the show, share with a friend who’s ready to serve, and leave a review to help others find us.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Larry Zilliox (00:15):
Good morning.
I'm your host, Larry ZillioxDirector of Culinary Services
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run.
And this week our guest is EvanFarley.
He's the Northern VirginiaMetro Field Operations
Coordinator quite a lot for TeamRubicon, one of my all-time
favorite nonprofit uhorganizations in the world.
(00:37):
I have uh watched Team Rubiconand everything they do.
I am follow them on all thesocial media.
I'm probably on a newsletter.
Um since its inception, I haveuh really just thought this is
one of the most creativenonprofits taking resources that
(00:58):
were out there and oftentimesnot doing what they could and
putting it into a package that'sdeliverable to emergency scenes
and providing help that's justunrivaled really anywhere in the
world.
So, Evan, thank you for sittingdown with us and and coming out
for this.
Evan Farley (01:16):
Yeah, thank you for the invite.
It sounds like you can uh I canbe interviewing you about your
knowledge of team.
Larry Zilliox (01:22):
No, I mean I have been a big fan because um the
concept uh is is just reallysomething else.
I I thought when I first heardabout this and using veterans
and putting them to work doingdisaster recovery work, you
know, there's really no bettercrowd suited for that.
I mean, they have skills,they're used to austere
(01:45):
environments, they don't need aholiday in to go volunteer to do
something, and they're willingto help.
And let me tell you something,I have seen on more than one
occasion where a naturaldisaster has struck, and
including in other parts of theworld and Team Rubicon gray
(02:05):
shirts, those boots have been onthe ground before FEMA, before
anybody else.
So I want to uh commend youguys for that and ask you to
sort of start with giving us alittle background on how the
organization got going.
Evan Farley (02:20):
Sure.
It was uh its genesis was in2010 with the earthquake in
Haiti.
Jake Wood, the founder and thefirst CEO and a group of
veterans and first responders,went down to Haiti to sort of
provide medical support as theycould.
And um, you know, it became itthat gave them the spark, the
idea that, hey, we really needsomething like this that can
(02:42):
help out domestically and togrow an organization, which
eventually became Team Rubicon.
You know, which started fromobviously modest means it was
eight people responding to anearthquake that size.
Um, to these days, we're, Ithink we're north of 200,000
volunteers.
As you said, you mentioned grayshirts.
That's what we call ourvolunteers.
(03:03):
We wear a gray shirt.
I think the second operationthey did, which I can't recall
where in the Caribbean it was,they tried to stock up on
t-shirts, and the only ones thatwere available were just some
gray shirts they found, whereverit was, and that became the
uniform, and that became, again,the moniker we use to this day.
And um, and you're right, youknow, obviously the
veteran-focused part of ourlegacy is extremely important.
(03:26):
And we are veteran-led.
But you know, I want to give abit of a shout-out too to the
fact that we've got probably atthis point almost 50-50 veterans
as part of the organization andwhat we call kick-ass
civilians.
People who just are attractedto the mission.
They might have emergencymanagement background, might
have been a police or somethingof that nature, or just somebody
who I, you know, I meet themevery week.
(03:46):
Hey, I just Googled, you know,emergency response,
volunteering, this, that, andthe other.
Found your organization,watched a video, thought it
looked great, and here I amtoday.
Uh, last week we did a streamcleanup.
We might be doing uh in termsof local operations, helping out
at various food banks, thingsof that nature.
So we both do what youmentioned, sort of, you know, go
(04:07):
to Haiti.
We've got teams in Jamaicaright now.
We've got teams in Alaska rightnow, and we also just have
across the nation weekendservice projects because it's
important to keep our folksengaged in their communities
because not all of us can justjump on a plane, go to Florida
for one week and sort of muckout houses that have been
impacted, you know, by a floodor a hurricane.
Larry Zilliox (04:27):
Yeah.
Tell us how how does somebodyget involved with Team Rubicon
if they want to help out?
Evan Farley (04:35):
Well, if they look and help out, you know,
personally, physically, and wego to you know teamrubicon.org
and sign up.
It's very easy to volunteer.
You know, you'll get asked somebasic questions.
It's like signing up for anynumber of things.
Um, with with one caveatthough, that if you intend to
deploy with us, you're gonna goto operations somewhere, you
have to have a background checkand it costs usually about 25
(04:56):
bucks or so.
And that's just to make sure weunderstand who we're sleeping
with in that gymnasium on thatcot donated by the Red Cross.
Because again, as you mentioneda little bit earlier, we do
tend to be in austereenvironments.
There's no holiday endsavailable.
You're gonna be, you know,you're gonna be doing things
that it might be similar to whatyou were doing when you got
dumped in the desert at somepoint and lived in a tent and
(05:17):
went to a chow hall, et cetera,et cetera.
Larry Zilliox (05:19):
So if you were lucky and you had that stuff.
Evan Farley (05:21):
That's if you were lucky, right.
Larry Zilliox (05:24):
So so for yourself, okay, your prior
service Navy.
Yes.
And question I always ask iswhy would you join the Navy
instead of the Air Force?
Evan Farley (05:34):
Funny story about that one.
Um I had actually I I wentthrough Rotsi at the University
of Notre Dame and I had offersfrom both the Air Force and Navy
for Rotsi.
And I wanted to fly at thatpoint when my eyes were good and
they're not anymore.
So the Air Force requirementwas at that point, at least,
they're like, no, we actually wedon't really do a lot of pilot
(05:54):
accessions from Ratsi, and youhave to have these majors.
If you don't do these majors,you cannot get a scholarship.
The Navy was, yeah, we getpilots from all over the place.
Most of our pilots are historymajors.
Try engineering.
If it doesn't work out, that'sokay.
I went, okay, Navy's for me.
And that's how uh I went toNavy instead of the Air Force.
Larry Zilliox (06:13):
And you retired as a commander?
Yes, commander, yes.
Wow.
How long were you in?
22 years.
When did you enlist?
Evan Farley (06:20):
Uh I graduated from Notre Dame in 87, so that was
when I was commissioned.
Larry Zilliox (06:24):
Oh.
Evan Farley (06:24):
Yeah.
Larry Zilliox (06:25):
Okay.
What was your best assignment?
Evan Farley (06:28):
Well, I had I had one shipboard assignment, USS
Ferris, which is a frigate outof North Frank, and is now
either razor blades or maybeit's still floating somewhere.
It was sold to a differentNavy.
Uh, but I spent about six yearsactive duty and the rest of my
22 years in the reserves.
The the probably the reserveassignment I love the most was I
was a commanding officer of aof a CB detachment in Pittsburgh
(06:48):
and Phoebus constructionbattalions.
And they're the folks who doship to shore movements, build
all these interesting structuresto get stores offloaded and get
them to the folks who need themon dry land.
And it was just a blast.
We had so much fun coming inthere, playing CB.
I'd never had, you know, smallarms training, doing field
exercises, you know, qualifyingand all sorts of interesting
(07:10):
things.
And uh it was a blast.
And if actually later in mycareer, when I was a commander,
I got to go out to the WestCoast, to the to the West Coast
unit, and then be in charge ofall 10 battalions west of the
Mississippi.
So so being on the water doingCB stuff, it was a blast.
Larry Zilliox (07:25):
Oh, oh.
And 22 years, that's that's aodd number.
You see a lot of people, I'mdoing my 20, getting in my
pension, I'm getting out.
Or I'm gonna stay and try tobuild up as much as I can so
that you know I'm gonna get morein retirement.
And but 22 years, what was thedecision process like there?
Evan Farley (07:45):
It was it was two things.
One of which was I had athree-year tour that I with the
reserves that ended at that atthat point.
And as a as a naval reservistas as above the rank of 04, you
go through boards every time youget into assignments.
So my assignment was up.
And and also at that point, Ihad from my last year in the
reserves, was my first yearworking a really difficult job
(08:06):
at FEMA.
And there was no way I coulddevote the time I needed to the
FEMA job and give the Navyreserves the time and effort
that it needed.
And I was like, okay, it's justtime to sort of pass the hat to
the next generation, and Igotta go do my FEMA job.
Larry Zilliox (08:20):
Yeah.
Wow.
Evan Farley (08:22):
Um, what was transition like for you?
You know, it it was it was notthat hard from this perspective.
Um, you know, being areservist, you you're
transitioning once a month insome ways.
Yeah.
I mean, I did get deployed for10 months after uh, I mean, for
the for the Iraq war in 2003,and that was an interesting
(08:42):
transition.
But just but just sort of theum leaving the reserves, it left
a little bit of a hole there,yes, a service hole.
But again, being a reservistand again, transitioning it
seems every month.
I'm throwing on some cambies,zipping out to the West Coast or
to Pittsburgh or whomever,wherever I was at at that point,
you know, didn't make that muchof a transition.
I think it would have been muchmore of an interesting and a
(09:05):
difficult transition just comingoff of maybe 20 years of active
duty and then just kind ofwondering, like, okay, what do I
do next?
Um, otherwise, interestingtransition though, when I was, I
spent three years again on seaduty in in a very sort of in a
very complicated and and taxingjob.
And the day you step off thatship, and that's not your
responsibility anymore, wasquite the transition.
(09:26):
I almost didn't know what to doat that point.
Like, you know, there was somuch put upon you, and then you
get relieved of that.
And that sort of made it wasjust a very weird transition.
Coming back from deployment, ifwe want to continue in this
vein, was was a weird transitionbecause if you're in you've
been deployed over to the MiddleEast, you're in the middle of
that, you know, you're in Iraqor whatever it might be, and
(09:47):
it's a very tense situation, nomatter what you're doing.
And then to come back, fly on,you know, fly back overseas, get
dropped off, and then to be inthe middle of a soccer field a
day later when you've been in,you know, Baghdad a month before
or whatever, looking on, youknow, rooftops and whatever it
might be was was a very, veryweird transition.
(10:07):
It takes and it took an anynumber of months to sort of
almost like spin down from beingin that environment and to
relax and to not be constantlyalert and to not feel like your
brain is analyzing everywhereyou're going and everywhere
you're looking.
So that was that was definitelythe most difficult transition.
Larry Zilliox (10:23):
That that's a pretty common thing that we hear
uh because you know, in WorldWar II, when the war was over,
guys came back from Europe onLiberty ships and that was a
month or more that theydecompressed.
Now you get on a plane andeight hours later you're in the
middle of it.
Evan Farley (10:43):
Yeah, it wasn't BWY greeting my family.
Larry Zilliox (10:46):
Yeah.
And so there's no time todecompress.
Right.
You're just kind of thrown intoit.
So did you make a VA claim oranything?
No.
Okay.
Maybe you should.
Maybe.
Evan Farley (10:56):
I I actually I I need to do the Pac Tex training.
I need to do that.
Larry Zilliox (11:00):
Hearing.
Yeah.
Do you need hearing aids?
No.
You will.
Okay.
Um especially I can't believethat because you were it had to
have been around really heavyequipment.
Evan Farley (11:14):
Yeah, a little bit, but probably more on the
machinery side in the Navy.
I was in engineering for allthree years.
Yeah.
And uh you really gotta watchit and and really concentrate on
hearing protection and andthings like that.
Larry Zilliox (11:25):
Yeah.
Okay.
Listeners, uh, I want you tovisit the webpage.
It's teamrubiconusa.org.
Um, check it out and look ateverything they got going.
And if you want to volunteer,reach out.
And you know, giving back andvolunteering really good for
(11:47):
you.
It really is.
Especially when you're deployedor you're you're sent to help
people that desperately needhelp.
Whether it's in the mountainsof North Carolina, in Florida
after a hurricane, forest firesin in the west, these are people
that are really hurting andwhen you go and help them, you
(12:09):
think to yourself, Well, thatwasn't a big deal.
You know, I just showed up andI shoveled out some mud or I,
you know, I cut out somewallboard and you know, try to
get mold out of a house and andyou put in the eight hours, you
put in a long day.
Okay.
But to the people that you'rethere helping, it is just it is
(12:29):
so important and they are sothankful.
How often do you deploy?
Evan Farley (12:35):
Personally, about once a year.
Okay.
Um, I'm still a full-timefederal employee, so I don't
have control over my schedule asif I had been retired, retired.
And I'm sure once I retire,retire, I will do more often.
But um, you know, we it it alot of folks who are retired
will do things, you know, once amonth, once a quarter, things
like that.
Again, I'll I'll take annualleave and go down.
(12:56):
Uh, I've been to Florida twotimes in the last three years,
uh, Port Charlotte, I believe.
Uh, you know, let last summer,not summer.
Well, I guess well, the summerbefore last summer.
Last year, there was HurricanesMilton and Helene, did a lot of
damage in Florida, andobviously up, you talk about
North Carolina.
So I spent a week thereactually helping to organize the
operation and did a couple daysof muck-outs, which is when we
(13:18):
go into a house and try to sortof recover the house, whether
it's ripping out everything downto the studs, or just depending
upon the needs of that house,it might just be portions of
that house.
But they try to get them backto a point where they can
recover and perhaps have youknow their insurance come in and
and rebuild and replace and andprobably save some of these
(13:39):
homeowners thousands, if nottens of thousands of dollars.
Yeah.
And it is hard work.
I'm very qualified for itbecause I can lift things and I
can break things.
I'm not a builder, never willbe.
But, you know, we we do notneed skilled labor.
We need people with attitude.
Um, you know, one of ourcultural principles is get shit
done, if I can say that on thepodcast.
(13:59):
And and that's what we hire,you know, not hire, I'm sorry,
that's what we grab people to doand have our volunteers do,
just go in there with a greatattitude, you know, get stuff
done for that homeowner, uh,give them a hug on the way out,
and hopefully a day or two orthree days later, they're in a
much better place than theywould have been.
It's free of charge to thehomeowner.
And again, hopefully they'vegot insurance or their ability
(14:19):
on their own to get the newdrywall in or to replace the
furniture or whatever it mightbe, where sometimes that house
might have been, you know,condemned, or the insurance
people might have just beensome, but it might have just
said, no, we're not gonna, wecan't help.
Right.
And you're on your own.
Yeah.
Larry Zilliox (14:34):
So do you find that corporations will give
their employees time off tovolunteer with Team Rubicon?
Evan Farley (14:42):
They they do.
Um, I just had an interactionwith uh the Ford Motor Company.
They they sponsored uh adocumentary that just aired a
few days ago, and I just I forsome reason just cannot remember
the name of documentary.
But it follows a gray shirt uhand his experience um leaving
active duty and and and joiningTeam Rubicon and what he got
from that.
But uh like Ford, I I can'trecall the exact number, but
(15:04):
they they both encourage theiremployees to join Team Rubicon
and give them time off.
And I think Home Depot, anynumber of organizations out
there do similar things becausewe have a lot of corporate
partners who who donate eithereither funding, equipment, or
their people to also help out.
Larry Zilliox (15:21):
If I were to volunteer to deploy, is there a
cost to me?
Do I pay my own way somewhere?
Do I have to buy my own meals?
Evan Farley (15:29):
No, no.
Everything is provided for you.
We'll fly you to wherever itis.
Um if you're if you're localand you're driving, we'll
reimburse you for the mileage.
You know, you'll be probably ina gym or something like that on
a cot.
Uh, but we have, you know, wehave breakfast, lunch, and
dinner provided.
Sometimes it's we're cookingfor ourselves.
Sometimes we might be like Iwas in Florida staying at the
(15:52):
VFW, and the VFW might providesome meals.
Or so everything, everything isis paid for.
You know, we we get you there.
You know, obviously you'regonna bring your own clothes and
things like that.
We'll do your laundry for younine times out of ten if it's
available.
So it's uh yeah, it's not anykind of out-of-pocket expense.
Larry Zilliox (16:08):
Great.
Let's talk a little bit aboutwho can volunteer.
So I don't want our listenersto think that you're just
looking for guys swingingchainsaws.
You need help on multiplelevels, whether it's a doctor to
provide medical assistance,nurse, uh physician's assistant,
(16:28):
all the way down to a guyswinging a uh a sledgehammer or
cutting something up with achainsaw.
You need com guys, you needpaperwork, yeah.
We need planner, we needplanners.
Yeah.
Evan Farley (16:41):
You need logistics people.
Larry Zilliox (16:44):
Yeah.
So is there a list on the webpage of what services or what
things you're looking for?
Or is it just best that theyreach out and say, here's what
here's my background, I want tohelp?
Evan Farley (16:55):
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, as part of theapplication process, there are
ways to sort of put inspecialized skills that you
have.
Larry Zilliox (17:02):
Right.
Evan Farley (17:02):
Training.
Right, right.
And and you know, as youmentioned, a lot of our time
could be swinging, you know, wesay swinging a chainsaw, God
forbid.
I am chainsaw qualified.
I and from a kid from New YorkCity, that's that's pretty darn
good.
We can get me chainsawqualified.
But you know, the and a lot ofwhat we do is that sort of
mucking and gutting in houses,you know.
But if you cannot do that,there are plenty of jobs for
(17:24):
you.
Right.
So let's say before we do, wecome to your house, Larry, and
and you you you sort of raiseyour hand and say, Hey, I need
some assistance.
We will send two-person teamsout there to do a site survey.
They will walk around yourhouse, they will talk to you,
they will assess your needs, andthey will report back to the
folks who are running theoperation to say, this is what
(17:46):
we found.
We have pictures, this is theneeds, is this within our
capability to do?
So at that point, you know,people with those skills just
need to be able to drive atruck, understand our mission
and our capabilities, and beable to work with homeowners to
understand what their needs are,and then bring that message
back to the folks who arerunning the operation.
There are plenty of things likethat.
Donation management.
(18:07):
We have people who actually runthe operation, planners,
logisticians, um, operationalpeople who sort of organize the
mission.
So there are plenty of jobs outthere for people who want to
swing something and breaksomething, or do chainsaw
operations, or do heavyequipment operations, and and uh
for a smaller subsection, themedical profession, because we
have you know qualified teams.
(18:29):
We have a team right now inJamaica doing medical
assistance.
But again, you can if if it'snot your you know your bag of
goodies, there are plenty ofthings that involve swinging
hammers and lifting heavy thingsthat we can put you to work
for.
Larry Zilliox (18:41):
Wow.
Well, uh again, listeners, thewebpage is team Rubicon,
R-U-B-I-C-O-N-USA dot org.
Go there, uh check it out.
If you know somebody who mayhave just separated recently,
they're banging around wonderingwhat they're gonna do.
(19:02):
Maybe they can spend some timevolunteering.
Maybe they don't want to get ajob right away, they're moved in
with a relative and they'relooking for something to do.
And you know, just send thatlink to people and spread the
word.
And also while you're there, Iguarantee you there's a button
that says donate on it, and itwants you to bang on that button
(19:26):
and donate what you can.
This uh isn't free and youcan't rely on other people to
fund it.
You need to donate.
Every little bit helps, whetherit's five dollars or fifty
dollars or five thousanddollars, give what you can.
Where do you see theorganization going in say five
(19:50):
years?
Evan Farley (19:51):
Good good question on that one.
Um, you know, it's it's it'sinteresting.
There we have sort of corecapabilities, as you can
imagine.
And we talked about, you know,chainse operations and and and
things like that.
Uh there are a few initiativesthat are that we're undertaking.
I haven't been personallyinvolved in them, but one of
them is a is is rebuild in thelast couple of years.
So we've had a we've had acouple of very specific
(20:13):
operations um starting out inHouston in 2017, where we've
actually been rebuilding homesand putting people into those
homes, done a couple hundred ofthose.
Um, there was just an academystarted, and again, I can't
recall the exact name, but itjust started in September, where
it's like a trades academywhere we're taking folks um who
(20:34):
don't necessarily have some ofthose trade skills, spending
about two months with them andteaching them how to rebuild and
sort of getting them on that,on that path.
But I think one of the thingsthat Team BrookCon has been
challenged with, but is at itsbest at is being flexible to a
new op to an operatingenvironment.
Um whether that's being drivenby climate change, whether
that's being driven by somethinglike COVID, where, you know,
(20:56):
out of nowhere it w it wasn'tnecessarily uh in our in our
skill set or in our um in in ourstrategic documents to say
that, hey, we're gonna suddenlystart supporting mass
vaccination efforts across thecountry.
Or when the U.S.
pulled out of Afghanistan, youknow, we never would have
thought before that that wewould both be helping with uh
sort of welcoming them to theUnited States.
(21:18):
And I spent two and a halfmonths every other weekend um
resettling those Afghans inNorthern Virginia, working with
other partners who would getdonations of furniture and
things like that.
And we were the muscle becauseagain, my skill set is lifting
things up and putting thingsdown.
Yeah.
So we're moving couches and butwe're getting donations on a
Friday and Saturday, Sundaymoving folks in.
(21:40):
So, you know, it's difficultfor me to project where the
organization will be, but theorganization is constantly
looking for new challenges.
We are we are Semper Gumby,always flexible.
And um, you know, and I thinkone of the stories that came out
of Enduring Eagle, which wasthe operation that dealt with
Afghan resettlement, was therewas some meeting with
non-governmental organizations,and the State Department was
(22:01):
talking about, you know, whatthey could and couldn't do and
what authorities they had, andsort of wondering like who could
help.
And I think the Team Burbicomprepresentative literally said
something like, What do you needand where do you need it?
And that was enough to get uson the path that uh, you know,
we see a need, we'll like we'llstep in, we'll fill that gap.
Larry Zilliox (22:20):
Wow.
Wow.
What does the Northern VirginiaMetro Field Operations
Coordinator do?
Evan Farley (22:27):
Uh any any number of things.
I actually have sort of takenover a few more roles than that,
but I'll just sort of tell youhow we organize ourselves
locally.
Uh as you can imagine, like inthe military has an
administrative chain of commandand operational chain of
command.
Operation head community chainof command, excuse me, is is
sort of run by the the permanentstaff and also in the operation
(22:49):
itself.
But when you're organizingyourself locally in terms of
membership and what you'redoing, we have volunteer leaders
of which I am one.
So I'm sort of responsible forNorthern Virginia.
We don't have anybody sort ofdoing this in the district right
now, so I'm sort of coveringthe district.
So what that means is, youknow, I spend I spend a lot of
my time doing outreach to umorganizations that are looking
(23:10):
for support.
Uh food banks, um, it could bethis organization, your
organization itself.
I think we're here in in 2022doing one of those cleanups.
Um, but we we probably inNorthern Virginia and DC do at
least two service projects amonth with a local organization
that needs help.
Oh and again, a lot of them arefood-related, food and
(23:32):
security-related organizationsand uh or habitat for humanity,
you know, things of that nature.
Sure.
And and we think that's reallyimportant to keep our gray
shirts engaged and involved inthat local community and give
back to the community becauseagain, not all of us can just
get down to Florida.
So there's so there's some ofthat.
There's organizing training.
Um, we we go to Camp Snyder,which is you know, two, three
(23:53):
miles away from here, yeah, andwe do our chainsaw uh both
training and then and sort ofhands-on practice with them.
And and it's sort of it's agood deal for us because we're
able to go over there and youknow it's a forest full of
trees.
Some of them are already down,so we practice uh, you know,
bucking and limbing those trees.
We practice felling things, andand the scout uh camp gets our
(24:14):
services where they say, Hey, wehave a leaning tree over here.
Can you clean up this area overthere?
So it's a good it's a goodrelationship.
Larry Zilliox (24:21):
So it's I know another place where you could do
that.
Evan Farley (24:24):
Back uh back here.
Yeah, I noticed that.
Yes.
Give us a call.
So so yeah, that's it's that.
So it's also dealing with themembership.
You know, I might be going toVFWs, things like that.
Oh, yeah, and talking and doingsome recruiting there.
So it it involves all thosesorts of things and just sort of
care and upkeep of our grayshirts.
People are always writing me,calling me, whatever.
(24:45):
Hey, what's up with this?
What's up with that?
So um there's a lot of sort ofhand holding and and and and
doing that stuff.
Larry Zilliox (24:51):
Yeah, wow.
Well, listeners, again, it'sTeam Rubicon USA.
Uh visit that webpage, uh,check out all the resources
there.
Think about volunteering.
Uh at least contact the localchapter, find out what they're
all about.
And uh it's not a, you know,there's no huge commitment here.
(25:11):
It's what time you have, youknow, um, what your capabilities
are.
They are not gonna force you todo things that you're not
capable of doing.
Correct.
Um, so you really, really, Iguarantee you, they can find
something for you to do and away for you to help, either
using your skills, using yourability to think, just being
(25:34):
there and and helping out, uh, Ithink i is good for everybody
to do, really.
Well, Evan, listen, I can'tthank you enough for coming out,
stopping by, and sitting downand telling our listeners all
about Team Rubicon.
Evan Farley (25:49):
No, I appreciate the opportunity, Larry.
I always love talking aboutTeam Rubicon.
And uh hope your listeners willcheck in and check us out.
Larry Zilliox (25:55):
Yeah, for sure.
Well, listeners, we'll haveanother episode next Monday
morning at 0500.
If you have any questions orsuggestions, you can reach us at
podcast at willingwarriors.org.
You can find us on all themajor podcast platforms.
We're on YouTube and WreathsAcross America Radio.
Until then, thanks forlistening.
Good morning.
I'm your host, Larry ZillioxDirector of Culinary Services
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run.
And this week our guest is EvanFarley.
He's the Northern VirginiaMetro Field Operations
Coordinator quite a lot for TeamRubicon, one of my all-time
favorite nonprofit uhorganizations in the world.
(00:37):
I have uh watched Team Rubiconand everything they do.
I am follow them on all thesocial media.
I'm probably on a newsletter.
Um since its inception, I haveuh really just thought this is
one of the most creativenonprofits taking resources that
(00:58):
were out there and oftentimesnot doing what they could and
putting it into a package that'sdeliverable to emergency scenes
and providing help that's justunrivaled really anywhere in the
world.
So, Evan, thank you for sittingdown with us and and coming out
for this.
Evan Farley (01:16):
Yeah, thank you for the invite.
It sounds like you can uh I canbe interviewing you about your
knowledge of team.
Larry Zilliox (01:22):
No, I mean I have been a big fan because um the
concept uh is is just reallysomething else.
I I thought when I first heardabout this and using veterans
and putting them to work doingdisaster recovery work, you
know, there's really no bettercrowd suited for that.
I mean, they have skills,they're used to austere
(01:45):
environments, they don't need aholiday in to go volunteer to do
something, and they're willingto help.
And let me tell you something,I have seen on more than one
occasion where a naturaldisaster has struck, and
including in other parts of theworld and Team Rubicon gray
(02:05):
shirts, those boots have been onthe ground before FEMA, before
anybody else.
So I want to uh commend youguys for that and ask you to
sort of start with giving us alittle background on how the
organization got going.
Evan Farley (02:20):
Sure.
It was uh its genesis was in2010 with the earthquake in
Haiti.
Jake Wood, the founder and thefirst CEO and a group of
veterans and first responders,went down to Haiti to sort of
provide medical support as theycould.
And um, you know, it became itthat gave them the spark, the
idea that, hey, we really needsomething like this that can
(02:42):
help out domestically and togrow an organization, which
eventually became Team Rubicon.
You know, which started fromobviously modest means it was
eight people responding to anearthquake that size.
Um, to these days, we're, Ithink we're north of 200,000
volunteers.
As you said, you mentioned grayshirts.
That's what we call ourvolunteers.
(03:03):
We wear a gray shirt.
I think the second operationthey did, which I can't recall
where in the Caribbean it was,they tried to stock up on
t-shirts, and the only ones thatwere available were just some
gray shirts they found, whereverit was, and that became the
uniform, and that became, again,the moniker we use to this day.
And um, and you're right, youknow, obviously the
veteran-focused part of ourlegacy is extremely important.
(03:26):
And we are veteran-led.
But you know, I want to give abit of a shout-out too to the
fact that we've got probably atthis point almost 50-50 veterans
as part of the organization andwhat we call kick-ass
civilians.
People who just are attractedto the mission.
They might have emergencymanagement background, might
have been a police or somethingof that nature, or just somebody
who I, you know, I meet themevery week.
(03:46):
Hey, I just Googled, you know,emergency response,
volunteering, this, that, andthe other.
Found your organization,watched a video, thought it
looked great, and here I amtoday.
Uh, last week we did a streamcleanup.
We might be doing uh in termsof local operations, helping out
at various food banks, thingsof that nature.
So we both do what youmentioned, sort of, you know, go
(04:07):
to Haiti.
We've got teams in Jamaicaright now.
We've got teams in Alaska rightnow, and we also just have
across the nation weekendservice projects because it's
important to keep our folksengaged in their communities
because not all of us can justjump on a plane, go to Florida
for one week and sort of muckout houses that have been
impacted, you know, by a floodor a hurricane.
Larry Zilliox (04:27):
Yeah.
Tell us how how does somebodyget involved with Team Rubicon
if they want to help out?
Evan Farley (04:35):
Well, if they look and help out, you know,
personally, physically, and wego to you know teamrubicon.org
and sign up.
It's very easy to volunteer.
You know, you'll get asked somebasic questions.
It's like signing up for anynumber of things.
Um, with with one caveatthough, that if you intend to
deploy with us, you're gonna goto operations somewhere, you
have to have a background checkand it costs usually about 25
(04:56):
bucks or so.
And that's just to make sure weunderstand who we're sleeping
with in that gymnasium on thatcot donated by the Red Cross.
Because again, as you mentioneda little bit earlier, we do
tend to be in austereenvironments.
There's no holiday endsavailable.
You're gonna be, you know,you're gonna be doing things
that it might be similar to whatyou were doing when you got
dumped in the desert at somepoint and lived in a tent and
(05:17):
went to a chow hall, et cetera,et cetera.
Larry Zilliox (05:19):
So if you were lucky and you had that stuff.
Evan Farley (05:21):
That's if you were lucky, right.
Larry Zilliox (05:24):
So so for yourself, okay, your prior
service Navy.
Yes.
And question I always ask iswhy would you join the Navy
instead of the Air Force?
Evan Farley (05:34):
Funny story about that one.
Um I had actually I I wentthrough Rotsi at the University
of Notre Dame and I had offersfrom both the Air Force and Navy
for Rotsi.
And I wanted to fly at thatpoint when my eyes were good and
they're not anymore.
So the Air Force requirementwas at that point, at least,
they're like, no, we actually wedon't really do a lot of pilot
(05:54):
accessions from Ratsi, and youhave to have these majors.
If you don't do these majors,you cannot get a scholarship.
The Navy was, yeah, we getpilots from all over the place.
Most of our pilots are historymajors.
Try engineering.
If it doesn't work out, that'sokay.
I went, okay, Navy's for me.
And that's how uh I went toNavy instead of the Air Force.
Larry Zilliox (06:13):
And you retired as a commander?
Yes, commander, yes.
Wow.
How long were you in?
22 years.
When did you enlist?
Evan Farley (06:20):
Uh I graduated from Notre Dame in 87, so that was
when I was commissioned.
Larry Zilliox (06:24):
Oh.
Evan Farley (06:24):
Yeah.
Larry Zilliox (06:25):
Okay.
What was your best assignment?
Evan Farley (06:28):
Well, I had I had one shipboard assignment, USS
Ferris, which is a frigate outof North Frank, and is now
either razor blades or maybeit's still floating somewhere.
It was sold to a differentNavy.
Uh, but I spent about six yearsactive duty and the rest of my
22 years in the reserves.
The the probably the reserveassignment I love the most was I
was a commanding officer of aof a CB detachment in Pittsburgh
(06:48):
and Phoebus constructionbattalions.
And they're the folks who doship to shore movements, build
all these interesting structuresto get stores offloaded and get
them to the folks who need themon dry land.
And it was just a blast.
We had so much fun coming inthere, playing CB.
I'd never had, you know, smallarms training, doing field
exercises, you know, qualifyingand all sorts of interesting
(07:10):
things.
And uh it was a blast.
And if actually later in mycareer, when I was a commander,
I got to go out to the WestCoast, to the to the West Coast
unit, and then be in charge ofall 10 battalions west of the
Mississippi.
So so being on the water doingCB stuff, it was a blast.
Larry Zilliox (07:25):
Oh, oh.
And 22 years, that's that's aodd number.
You see a lot of people, I'mdoing my 20, getting in my
pension, I'm getting out.
Or I'm gonna stay and try tobuild up as much as I can so
that you know I'm gonna get morein retirement.
And but 22 years, what was thedecision process like there?
Evan Farley (07:45):
It was it was two things.
One of which was I had athree-year tour that I with the
reserves that ended at that atthat point.
And as a as a naval reservistas as above the rank of 04, you
go through boards every time youget into assignments.
So my assignment was up.
And and also at that point, Ihad from my last year in the
reserves, was my first yearworking a really difficult job
(08:06):
at FEMA.
And there was no way I coulddevote the time I needed to the
FEMA job and give the Navyreserves the time and effort
that it needed.
And I was like, okay, it's justtime to sort of pass the hat to
the next generation, and Igotta go do my FEMA job.
Larry Zilliox (08:20):
Yeah.
Wow.
Evan Farley (08:22):
Um, what was transition like for you?
You know, it it was it was notthat hard from this perspective.
Um, you know, being areservist, you you're
transitioning once a month insome ways.
Yeah.
I mean, I did get deployed for10 months after uh, I mean, for
the for the Iraq war in 2003,and that was an interesting
(08:42):
transition.
But just but just sort of theum leaving the reserves, it left
a little bit of a hole there,yes, a service hole.
But again, being a reservistand again, transitioning it
seems every month.
I'm throwing on some cambies,zipping out to the West Coast or
to Pittsburgh or whomever,wherever I was at at that point,
you know, didn't make that muchof a transition.
I think it would have been muchmore of an interesting and a
(09:05):
difficult transition just comingoff of maybe 20 years of active
duty and then just kind ofwondering, like, okay, what do I
do next?
Um, otherwise, interestingtransition though, when I was, I
spent three years again on seaduty in in a very sort of in a
very complicated and and taxingjob.
And the day you step off thatship, and that's not your
responsibility anymore, wasquite the transition.
(09:26):
I almost didn't know what to doat that point.
Like, you know, there was somuch put upon you, and then you
get relieved of that.
And that sort of made it wasjust a very weird transition.
Coming back from deployment, ifwe want to continue in this
vein, was was a weird transitionbecause if you're in you've
been deployed over to the MiddleEast, you're in the middle of
that, you know, you're in Iraqor whatever it might be, and
(09:47):
it's a very tense situation, nomatter what you're doing.
And then to come back, fly on,you know, fly back overseas, get
dropped off, and then to be inthe middle of a soccer field a
day later when you've been in,you know, Baghdad a month before
or whatever, looking on, youknow, rooftops and whatever it
might be was was a very, veryweird transition.
(10:07):
It takes and it took an anynumber of months to sort of
almost like spin down from beingin that environment and to
relax and to not be constantlyalert and to not feel like your
brain is analyzing everywhereyou're going and everywhere
you're looking.
So that was that was definitelythe most difficult transition.
Larry Zilliox (10:23):
That that's a pretty common thing that we hear
uh because you know, in WorldWar II, when the war was over,
guys came back from Europe onLiberty ships and that was a
month or more that theydecompressed.
Now you get on a plane andeight hours later you're in the
middle of it.
Evan Farley (10:43):
Yeah, it wasn't BWY greeting my family.
Larry Zilliox (10:46):
Yeah.
And so there's no time todecompress.
Right.
You're just kind of thrown intoit.
So did you make a VA claim oranything?
No.
Okay.
Maybe you should.
Maybe.
Evan Farley (10:56):
I I actually I I need to do the Pac Tex training.
I need to do that.
Larry Zilliox (11:00):
Hearing.
Yeah.
Do you need hearing aids?
No.
You will.
Okay.
Um especially I can't believethat because you were it had to
have been around really heavyequipment.
Evan Farley (11:14):
Yeah, a little bit, but probably more on the
machinery side in the Navy.
I was in engineering for allthree years.
Yeah.
And uh you really gotta watchit and and really concentrate on
hearing protection and andthings like that.
Larry Zilliox (11:25):
Yeah.
Okay.
Listeners, uh, I want you tovisit the webpage.
It's teamrubiconusa.org.
Um, check it out and look ateverything they got going.
And if you want to volunteer,reach out.
And you know, giving back andvolunteering really good for
(11:47):
you.
It really is.
Especially when you're deployedor you're you're sent to help
people that desperately needhelp.
Whether it's in the mountainsof North Carolina, in Florida
after a hurricane, forest firesin in the west, these are people
that are really hurting andwhen you go and help them, you
(12:09):
think to yourself, Well, thatwasn't a big deal.
You know, I just showed up andI shoveled out some mud or I,
you know, I cut out somewallboard and you know, try to
get mold out of a house and andyou put in the eight hours, you
put in a long day.
Okay.
But to the people that you'rethere helping, it is just it is
(12:29):
so important and they are sothankful.
How often do you deploy?
Evan Farley (12:35):
Personally, about once a year.
Okay.
Um, I'm still a full-timefederal employee, so I don't
have control over my schedule asif I had been retired, retired.
And I'm sure once I retire,retire, I will do more often.
But um, you know, we it it alot of folks who are retired
will do things, you know, once amonth, once a quarter, things
like that.
Again, I'll I'll take annualleave and go down.
(12:56):
Uh, I've been to Florida twotimes in the last three years,
uh, Port Charlotte, I believe.
Uh, you know, let last summer,not summer.
Well, I guess well, the summerbefore last summer.
Last year, there was HurricanesMilton and Helene, did a lot of
damage in Florida, andobviously up, you talk about
North Carolina.
So I spent a week thereactually helping to organize the
operation and did a couple daysof muck-outs, which is when we
(13:18):
go into a house and try to sortof recover the house, whether
it's ripping out everything downto the studs, or just depending
upon the needs of that house,it might just be portions of
that house.
But they try to get them backto a point where they can
recover and perhaps have youknow their insurance come in and
and rebuild and replace and andprobably save some of these
(13:39):
homeowners thousands, if nottens of thousands of dollars.
Yeah.
And it is hard work.
I'm very qualified for itbecause I can lift things and I
can break things.
I'm not a builder, never willbe.
But, you know, we we do notneed skilled labor.
We need people with attitude.
Um, you know, one of ourcultural principles is get shit
done, if I can say that on thepodcast.
(13:59):
And and that's what we hire,you know, not hire, I'm sorry,
that's what we grab people to doand have our volunteers do,
just go in there with a greatattitude, you know, get stuff
done for that homeowner, uh,give them a hug on the way out,
and hopefully a day or two orthree days later, they're in a
much better place than theywould have been.
It's free of charge to thehomeowner.
And again, hopefully they'vegot insurance or their ability
(14:19):
on their own to get the newdrywall in or to replace the
furniture or whatever it mightbe, where sometimes that house
might have been, you know,condemned, or the insurance
people might have just beensome, but it might have just
said, no, we're not gonna, wecan't help.
Right.
And you're on your own.
Yeah.
Larry Zilliox (14:34):
So do you find that corporations will give
their employees time off tovolunteer with Team Rubicon?
Evan Farley (14:42):
They they do.
Um, I just had an interactionwith uh the Ford Motor Company.
They they sponsored uh adocumentary that just aired a
few days ago, and I just I forsome reason just cannot remember
the name of documentary.
But it follows a gray shirt uhand his experience um leaving
active duty and and and joiningTeam Rubicon and what he got
from that.
But uh like Ford, I I can'trecall the exact number, but
(15:04):
they they both encourage theiremployees to join Team Rubicon
and give them time off.
And I think Home Depot, anynumber of organizations out
there do similar things becausewe have a lot of corporate
partners who who donate eithereither funding, equipment, or
their people to also help out.
Larry Zilliox (15:21):
If I were to volunteer to deploy, is there a
cost to me?
Do I pay my own way somewhere?
Do I have to buy my own meals?
Evan Farley (15:29):
No, no.
Everything is provided for you.
We'll fly you to wherever itis.
Um if you're if you're localand you're driving, we'll
reimburse you for the mileage.
You know, you'll be probably ina gym or something like that on
a cot.
Uh, but we have, you know, wehave breakfast, lunch, and
dinner provided.
Sometimes it's we're cookingfor ourselves.
Sometimes we might be like Iwas in Florida staying at the
(15:52):
VFW, and the VFW might providesome meals.
Or so everything, everything isis paid for.
You know, we we get you there.
You know, obviously you'regonna bring your own clothes and
things like that.
We'll do your laundry for younine times out of ten if it's
available.
So it's uh yeah, it's not anykind of out-of-pocket expense.
Larry Zilliox (16:08):
Great.
Let's talk a little bit aboutwho can volunteer.
So I don't want our listenersto think that you're just
looking for guys swingingchainsaws.
You need help on multiplelevels, whether it's a doctor to
provide medical assistance,nurse, uh physician's assistant,
(16:28):
all the way down to a guyswinging a uh a sledgehammer or
cutting something up with achainsaw.
You need com guys, you needpaperwork, yeah.
We need planner, we needplanners.
Yeah.
Evan Farley (16:41):
You need logistics people.
Larry Zilliox (16:44):
Yeah.
So is there a list on the webpage of what services or what
things you're looking for?
Or is it just best that theyreach out and say, here's what
here's my background, I want tohelp?
Evan Farley (16:55):
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, as part of theapplication process, there are
ways to sort of put inspecialized skills that you
have.
Larry Zilliox (17:02):
Right.
Evan Farley (17:02):
Training.
Right, right.
And and you know, as youmentioned, a lot of our time
could be swinging, you know, wesay swinging a chainsaw, God
forbid.
I am chainsaw qualified.
I and from a kid from New YorkCity, that's that's pretty darn
good.
We can get me chainsawqualified.
But you know, the and a lot ofwhat we do is that sort of
mucking and gutting in houses,you know.
But if you cannot do that,there are plenty of jobs for
(17:24):
you.
Right.
So let's say before we do, wecome to your house, Larry, and
and you you you sort of raiseyour hand and say, Hey, I need
some assistance.
We will send two-person teamsout there to do a site survey.
They will walk around yourhouse, they will talk to you,
they will assess your needs, andthey will report back to the
folks who are running theoperation to say, this is what
(17:46):
we found.
We have pictures, this is theneeds, is this within our
capability to do?
So at that point, you know,people with those skills just
need to be able to drive atruck, understand our mission
and our capabilities, and beable to work with homeowners to
understand what their needs are,and then bring that message
back to the folks who arerunning the operation.
There are plenty of things likethat.
Donation management.
(18:07):
We have people who actually runthe operation, planners,
logisticians, um, operationalpeople who sort of organize the
mission.
So there are plenty of jobs outthere for people who want to
swing something and breaksomething, or do chainsaw
operations, or do heavyequipment operations, and and uh
for a smaller subsection, themedical profession, because we
have you know qualified teams.
(18:29):
We have a team right now inJamaica doing medical
assistance.
But again, you can if if it'snot your you know your bag of
goodies, there are plenty ofthings that involve swinging
hammers and lifting heavy thingsthat we can put you to work
for.
Larry Zilliox (18:41):
Wow.
Well, uh again, listeners, thewebpage is team Rubicon,
R-U-B-I-C-O-N-USA dot org.
Go there, uh check it out.
If you know somebody who mayhave just separated recently,
they're banging around wonderingwhat they're gonna do.
(19:02):
Maybe they can spend some timevolunteering.
Maybe they don't want to get ajob right away, they're moved in
with a relative and they'relooking for something to do.
And you know, just send thatlink to people and spread the
word.
And also while you're there, Iguarantee you there's a button
that says donate on it, and itwants you to bang on that button
(19:26):
and donate what you can.
This uh isn't free and youcan't rely on other people to
fund it.
You need to donate.
Every little bit helps, whetherit's five dollars or fifty
dollars or five thousanddollars, give what you can.
Where do you see theorganization going in say five
(19:50):
years?
Evan Farley (19:51):
Good good question on that one.
Um, you know, it's it's it'sinteresting.
There we have sort of corecapabilities, as you can
imagine.
And we talked about, you know,chainse operations and and and
things like that.
Uh there are a few initiativesthat are that we're undertaking.
I haven't been personallyinvolved in them, but one of
them is a is is rebuild in thelast couple of years.
So we've had a we've had acouple of very specific
(20:13):
operations um starting out inHouston in 2017, where we've
actually been rebuilding homesand putting people into those
homes, done a couple hundred ofthose.
Um, there was just an academystarted, and again, I can't
recall the exact name, but itjust started in September, where
it's like a trades academywhere we're taking folks um who
(20:34):
don't necessarily have some ofthose trade skills, spending
about two months with them andteaching them how to rebuild and
sort of getting them on that,on that path.
But I think one of the thingsthat Team BrookCon has been
challenged with, but is at itsbest at is being flexible to a
new op to an operatingenvironment.
Um whether that's being drivenby climate change, whether
that's being driven by somethinglike COVID, where, you know,
(20:56):
out of nowhere it w it wasn'tnecessarily uh in our in our
skill set or in our um in in ourstrategic documents to say
that, hey, we're gonna suddenlystart supporting mass
vaccination efforts across thecountry.
Or when the U.S.
pulled out of Afghanistan, youknow, we never would have
thought before that that wewould both be helping with uh
sort of welcoming them to theUnited States.
(21:18):
And I spent two and a halfmonths every other weekend um
resettling those Afghans inNorthern Virginia, working with
other partners who would getdonations of furniture and
things like that.
And we were the muscle becauseagain, my skill set is lifting
things up and putting thingsdown.
Yeah.
So we're moving couches and butwe're getting donations on a
Friday and Saturday, Sundaymoving folks in.
(21:40):
So, you know, it's difficultfor me to project where the
organization will be, but theorganization is constantly
looking for new challenges.
We are we are Semper Gumby,always flexible.
And um, you know, and I thinkone of the stories that came out
of Enduring Eagle, which wasthe operation that dealt with
Afghan resettlement, was therewas some meeting with
non-governmental organizations,and the State Department was
(22:01):
talking about, you know, whatthey could and couldn't do and
what authorities they had, andsort of wondering like who could
help.
And I think the Team Burbicomprepresentative literally said
something like, What do you needand where do you need it?
And that was enough to get uson the path that uh, you know,
we see a need, we'll like we'llstep in, we'll fill that gap.
Larry Zilliox (22:20):
Wow.
Wow.
What does the Northern VirginiaMetro Field Operations
Coordinator do?
Evan Farley (22:27):
Uh any any number of things.
I actually have sort of takenover a few more roles than that,
but I'll just sort of tell youhow we organize ourselves
locally.
Uh as you can imagine, like inthe military has an
administrative chain of commandand operational chain of
command.
Operation head community chainof command, excuse me, is is
sort of run by the the permanentstaff and also in the operation
(22:49):
itself.
But when you're organizingyourself locally in terms of
membership and what you'redoing, we have volunteer leaders
of which I am one.
So I'm sort of responsible forNorthern Virginia.
We don't have anybody sort ofdoing this in the district right
now, so I'm sort of coveringthe district.
So what that means is, youknow, I spend I spend a lot of
my time doing outreach to umorganizations that are looking
(23:10):
for support.
Uh food banks, um, it could bethis organization, your
organization itself.
I think we're here in in 2022doing one of those cleanups.
Um, but we we probably inNorthern Virginia and DC do at
least two service projects amonth with a local organization
that needs help.
Oh and again, a lot of them arefood-related, food and
(23:32):
security-related organizationsand uh or habitat for humanity,
you know, things of that nature.
Sure.
And and we think that's reallyimportant to keep our gray
shirts engaged and involved inthat local community and give
back to the community becauseagain, not all of us can just
get down to Florida.
So there's so there's some ofthat.
There's organizing training.
Um, we we go to Camp Snyder,which is you know, two, three
(23:53):
miles away from here, yeah, andwe do our chainsaw uh both
training and then and sort ofhands-on practice with them.
And and it's sort of it's agood deal for us because we're
able to go over there and youknow it's a forest full of
trees.
Some of them are already down,so we practice uh, you know,
bucking and limbing those trees.
We practice felling things, andand the scout uh camp gets our
(24:14):
services where they say, Hey, wehave a leaning tree over here.
Can you clean up this area overthere?
So it's a good it's a goodrelationship.
Larry Zilliox (24:21):
So it's I know another place where you could do
that.
Evan Farley (24:24):
Back uh back here.
Yeah, I noticed that.
Yes.
Give us a call.
So so yeah, that's it's that.
So it's also dealing with themembership.
You know, I might be going toVFWs, things like that.
Oh, yeah, and talking and doingsome recruiting there.
So it it involves all thosesorts of things and just sort of
care and upkeep of our grayshirts.
People are always writing me,calling me, whatever.
(24:45):
Hey, what's up with this?
What's up with that?
So um there's a lot of sort ofhand holding and and and and
doing that stuff.
Larry Zilliox (24:51):
Yeah, wow.
Well, listeners, again, it'sTeam Rubicon USA.
Uh visit that webpage, uh,check out all the resources
there.
Think about volunteering.
Uh at least contact the localchapter, find out what they're
all about.
And uh it's not a, you know,there's no huge commitment here.
(25:11):
It's what time you have, youknow, um, what your capabilities
are.
They are not gonna force you todo things that you're not
capable of doing.
Correct.
Um, so you really, really, Iguarantee you, they can find
something for you to do and away for you to help, either
using your skills, using yourability to think, just being
(25:34):
there and and helping out, uh, Ithink i is good for everybody
to do, really.
Well, Evan, listen, I can'tthank you enough for coming out,
stopping by, and sitting downand telling our listeners all
about Team Rubicon.
Evan Farley (25:49):
No, I appreciate the opportunity, Larry.
I always love talking aboutTeam Rubicon.
And uh hope your listeners willcheck in and check us out.
Larry Zilliox (25:55):
Yeah, for sure.
Well, listeners, we'll haveanother episode next Monday
morning at 0500.
If you have any questions orsuggestions, you can reach us at
podcast at willingwarriors.org.
You can find us on all themajor podcast platforms.
We're on YouTube and WreathsAcross America Radio.
Until then, thanks forlistening.
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