For many here in North Texas, Labor Day is a day to relax and enjoy the waning moments of summer.
But for the members of Team Rubicon, it was all about waking up early and getting right to work.
The group spent hours Monday morning at their headquarters in Grand Prairie loading up strike kits full of shovels, brooms, chainsaws and other tools they may need to help clean up the mess Harvey left in and around people's homes.
"What Team Rubicon does after disasters is really help people with the clean out of their homes," Team Rubicon spokeswoman Anita Foster said. "We come in and help those homeowners rip out the carpet, take out the sheet rock, help get the mud out of your house or remove those large trees and debris from the wind damage."
Several of those strike kits will arrive on the Gulf later in the day. More are slated to roll out Tuesday.
What makes Team Rubicon different from some of the other disaster relief groups on the ground is the bulk of their volunteers are former military and first responders.
"We have a very unique capability to pull skill sets for the kinds of tasks that are needed after disasters," said Foster.
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Foster says more than 2,000 Team Rubicon volunteers have already been dispatched to the Gulf. That number is expected to grow over the coming months.
"This is going to be a very long operation," she said. "There's nothing about Hurricane Harvey relief that's going to go quickly. It's going to take upwards of 12 to 18 months just to get to recovery. So Team Rubicon volunteers are gonna be in and out of the Gulf Coast area from here and from other parts of the nation helping."
