By Travis Gupton

The Selma Times-Journal

Before the tornado hit Selma on January 12 the city of Selma has become familiar with Team Rubicon. The Veteran-led volunteer group helped with the recovery process after Hurricane Zeta. They were one of the first groups on the ground after the devastation on January 12. Throughout that time, Team Rubicon has been working on a project to show the world what it is like to experience a day as one of their volunteers or a “gray shirt”. On May 25 they had that opportunity to show Selma in a light never seen before when it was shown as a part of a 13-episode docuseries on the Roku channel called Team Rubicon.

“We’ve been waiting a long time to tell our story in this fashion,” Team Rubicon CEO Art DelaCruz said. “We were approached in June of 2020 and the crew met us while we were going through Hurricane Harvey. It was essential that they were able to tell the story of Team Rubicon genuinely.”

The series is directed by Kevin O’Connor, who also hosted the series and was with the team throughout the events. When the tornado hit Selma on January 12, the video O’Connor’s

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“We launched our operation on January 12 to piggyback off Zeta and they were with us. They got to talk to volunteers, community members, and others to get a better understanding of what we do and what was going on,” DelaCruz said.

Since Hurricane Zeta, Team Rubicon has rebuilt over houses. Team Rubicon uses donations to be able to rebuild the houses. To DelaCruz, it’s more than just donating money.

“We take gifts and use them in different ways, ” DelaCruz said. “The Kings Foundations has been a big part of building these homes. It’s not just about building houses though, it’s about giving people safe and reliable homes. Anyone who donates to us can not only know but see what their money is being used for in the building of these homes. They can look at these houses and say ‘I helped build this house,’ there is no greater feeling.”

DelaCruz hopes after the work and effort that Team Rubicon has put in and the relationships they have made, a bond has been made between them and the citizens of Selma.

“I hope we have formed a bond with the city of Selma,” DelaCruz said. “Selma is deserving of this kind of attention.”