PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Hollie Davis’s life has become consumed by photos. Albums from families. Families she doesn’t even know.
The idea came to her as she was helping her close friend clean out their home, which was damaged by Hurricane Helene’s storm surge.
“We were helping them do demo, taking out everything wet," said Davis.
Davis saw the flooded photo albums and the expression on her friend’s face.
“Just watching the look on their face when they didn’t even want to open the albums and just letting them go. And I said let’s just try, I’m going home for the night, let me take them. And I saved every single photo,” said Davis.
So how did she do it? Research told her she needed an unlikely ally.
“It’s incredibly counterintuitive that water is your friend right now, but it really is,” said Davis.
"You think they’re wet, they’re done. Let’s get them out in the sun to dry in the albums, but that’s the worst thing you can do. The surface of the photo is sticky," she added.
Once she figured out a system, Davis shared it on social media, and requests from other families started pouring in.
That’s when Carla Wessel was recruited to help.
“Keeping them wet, making them wetter maybe, and putting them in a bag and freezing them would be the first thing. And then when someone can help they can be thawed out and be peeled apart safely. Because once they’re fully wet, you can pull them apart. You can’t pull them apart once they’ve started to dry,” said Wessel.
She’s determined to save as many albums as she can—as many memories as she can.
“It’s amazing. I know how important photos are. And to be able to save these for people because they might not have the negatives to re-do. They can’t re-do the wedding. They can’t re-do the birthday. They can’t re-do their grandma. So it’s amazing to be able to save these for people,” said Wessel.
They work album by album, photo after photo—generations of memories.
And when the job is done, that’s the best part.
“You hand them that bag, and it makes me cry. To see the look on their face of this thing they’re never going to get back, this picture of their grandparents or their parents or their kids or family they’ve lost. It’s just priceless,” said Davis.
These storms have cost families so much, but thanks to Davis and Wessel, all’s not lost.
“I’m not the only person that can do this. Everyone can do this. Call your friends, call your neighbors,” said Davis.
“For all these that you think you’ve lost them all, don’t put them in the dumpster. Let someone try,” said Wessel.
If you have albums that need saving, or you’d like to help them in their efforts, send them an email: MomentoRecoveryProject@gmail.com.
