A 'Christmas Trip' Concludes our Conversation with Woody Faircloth, Founder of Emergency RV

This is our 5th and final piece in this series with EmergencyRV Founder, Woody Faircloth.  You can catch up here:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Woody Faircloth: You want to hear a really heart-warming story from that Christmas trip that we took to Paradise?

Laurel Hunter: I would.

WF: Luna and I live in a house that’s much bigger than we need, so we sometimes rent out rooms to medical students and traveling nurses – people like that. There were two people who were living with us at the time and they were interested in going with us to California to deliver the fifth-wheel we talked about earlier, and the Christmas gifts that Luna’s class had collected for the children of the families we had placed in RV’s.

So, we delivered 5 RV’s on that trip and before our journey back to Denver we were having dinner at Outback Steakhouse in Chico on Christmas Eve. It was around two in the afternoon and we were going to drive all night and get home for Christmas Day. I was talking about the trip when Luna chimed in and said, “Wait. Tomorrow’s Christmas and I’m not going to be home?” And she started crying; she got so upset. She was crying and saying, “I’m not going to be there, and Santa Claus is not going to know where I am, and what’s going to happen?”

She was really getting flustered and ended up spilling a glass of water onto her lap and now she’s just in full-on meltdown, crying. I told her that everything was okay and that I was going to run out and get some clean clothes out of the truck and then she could go change and that Santa was going to take care of her – “I just know it” – but she didn’t believe me. She’s was just inconsolable. And, so, I walk out of the restaurant, and around the corner, who do I run smack into but Mrs. Santa Claus herself – like for real – legit, straight-up, fully outfitted in the little spectacles and everything.

And I said, “Mrs. Santa Claus?” And she said, “Well, hello!” And then right behind her is the most authentic Santa Claus I’ve ever seen. And I’m say, “Santa?!” And they went right along. I said, “What are you guys doing here?” They said, “Well, we’ve got a big night, so we stopped at Outback to have dinner. And then Santa asks me…”What are you doing?” I felt like a little kid as I excitedly told them about Luna and I giving RVs to people who lost their homes and that she was inside the restaurant crying and thinking they weren’t going to come to our house because we weren’t going to be home on Christmas morning. Santa said…”I would like to meet Luna”. I felt like Will Ferrell, in Elf.

So Mrs. Clause, Santa and I walk inside the restaurant. I walk up to our table and I said, “Luna, you’re not going to believe who I ran into in the parking lot”! She looks at me like I’m crazy, and then Santa and Mrs. Claus come around the corner and Luna’s mouth just fell open. Santa said, “Luna, I hear you’re doing some really good things, helping the boys and girls out here who were affected by the fire. I want you to know that I’m going to make a special stop at your house tonight.” It was just amazing.

LH: Oh, my gosh I’m crying now.

WF: Right?  Talk about – someone is pulling the levers out there! I mean, Im confident that God has had a hand in our work but I had no idea that Santa Claus was on board as well.. I don’t know. I’m thinking, stuff can’t be happening the way it’s happening!

LH: That is such a beautiful Christmas story. So, what’s next for you and Luna?

WF: The name of our nonprofit is RV4Campfire Family, Inc. We’ve recently changed the name to EmergencyRV.org, because our mission has expanded, and we want to help first responders, veterans and other survivors of natural disasters whenever emergency and transitional housing is needed. Our plan was to deliver one RV for one family and we were going to go back school and work after that first Thanksgiving. Now it’s turned into much more than that. We’ve stumbled upon a great model. If you see an RV on the side of someone’s yard, there’s usually at least one person in that house saying when are we going to get rid of that damn RV? We never use it, or we used it once a year. And the other person is thinking, yeah, but I can get 30-grand for it, but it can be such a hassle to maintain and sell. The option to donate it to such a great cause checks all the boxes. You get rid of the RV, and receive the full appraised value as a tax deduction in return, and of course, everyone feels good about helping someone who has suffered the trauma of losing their home to a natural disaster.

LH: What can someone reading this interview do to help?

WF: Acquiring RVs in good working order is are the toughest part of this work. And its also expensive to make improvements and transport them from point A to point B. If you or someone you know owns an RV that you or they might be willing to donate, then please fill out the RV donation intake form at EmergencyRV.org and we’ll contact you to tell you how the donation process works. Ultimately our goal is to have a fleet of RVs that we can deploy immediately to first responders, veterans and other survivors of natural disasters.

LH: So, you need actual RVs. And I’m guessing you are set up on your website to take cash donations?

WF: Yes, absolutely. We also have a Volunteer Intake Form on the website for anyone interesting in our volunteer opportunities. And of course, if you’ve lost your housing through a natural disaster and need shelter or know someone does, fill out our Survivor Family Intake form and tell us your story.

LH: And, so – as you continue to do this work that you’ve started – what compels you to keep going?

WF:     You know, shelter is such a basic human need. It’s so basic and to be able to provide that to someone who’s lost everything through no fault of their own, it’s just indescribable what it feels like to connect on this level with another human being. It’s the greatest feeling in the world to be able to do that and help someone in that situation – to be a family’s miracle, if you know what I mean.

LH: How are you associated with Colorado Teardrop?

WF: Did you see the “Regular Heroes” segment on Amazon Prime?

LH: Yes. I did.

WF: The producer we worked with is Catherine Luceri, who’s a friend of Dean, owner of Colorado Teardrop. She’s also a Colorado Teardrop customer and at the end of the segment, they gave us a Colorado Teardrop. I was shocked and it was an amazing surprise.

LH: Nice.

WF: So, they had rolled a Teardrop into my driveway and we walked out back and surprise! That’s how I met Dean. The camera crew had left, and we were standing in my backyard after that surreal experience, and he was saying how much he loved what we were doing and how he wanted to help in any way he could, and we discussed a number of ideas.

So, his company was having their quarterly or semi-annual meeting, talking about their strategy for the coming quarter and year and Dean wanted to figure out how they could help to support our work. They are going to do a promotion where if you donate your RV to our organization, he’ll give a discount on a new Colorado Teardrop.

And then, right before when we were getting ready to leave for, Oregon/California to assist more recent fire survivors, Dean drove down here a couple of hours before we left for the airport. He had printed up these big EmergencyRV.org stickers to place on the RVs, and you know, it says nothing says nothing about Colorado Teardrop on it, right? He told his team to help us and his team has helped with everything from our website to our logo and everything in between. I’ve just blown away by Dean’s kindness and generosity. So, he, he genuinely…

LH: He cares?

WF: He cares. He just wants to help and give back. He genuinely cares. And we think that’s awesome. He’s awesome.

To learn more about Emergency RV, please click here

This multi-part series is authored by Laurel Hunter, a freelance creative writer with over 20 years of experience covering a broad range of topics. She and her family are 2018 Camp Fire survivors who have since relocated to the Pacific Northwest Olympic Peninsula.