Davidson, North Carolina resident Frank Giancarli spent his childhood as a Boy and an Eagle Scout doing service projects. But as he got older, “work got in the way,” so he didn’t so as much volunteering as he would have liked, he said. But nine months ago, he was checking out a friend’s Facebook photo and saw a table that said Team Rubicon in the background of the photo.
The name “Team Rubicon” struck a vague bell, so Giancarli researched the organization and realized that he was aligned with the mission of “Get shit done.” Giancarli said, “Other organizations have lots of bureaucracy. Team Rubicon uses its get shit done motto over and over and it is really at the soul of the organization.” So Giancarli signed up and almost immediately started the training courses.
And when Hurricane Florence pummeled his state, Giancarli joined his first operation, what TR has dubbed Operation Silver Sun. Giancarli is part of a sawyer team tasked with removing fallen trees from roads and rooftops. And he’s been delighted by how welcoming his teammates have been, especially since he is neither a veteran nor a first responder.
“I’m the owner/operator of Training Ground at Davidson, a personal training, massage therapy, and lifestyle coaching” company, Giancarli said. And at the mention of massage therapy, two of his teammates who were on a break from chainsawing, joked about volunteering themselves to lie on his massage table at the end of their shifts.
Giancarli credits his job with putting him in the position to take time off to volunteer with TR and calls the experience “humbling” to help so many people in need. He loves that Team Rubicon is “like a family” and finds jobs for everyone, at every skill level or with any physical ability. He said his wife Catherine is proud of him that he’s joined TR, and she’s currently in nursing school looks forward to finishing because she wants to help TR’s medical teams.
