It was the picture in the newspaper that swayed Tad Agoglia: a woman half-buried in rubble in Haiti, workers trying to free her rock by rock with their bare hands.
Until then, the founder of a nonprofit group that travels across the United States responding to natural disasters didn't think he had the resources to take his operation international. The image was enough to convince him he had to make it happen.
Saturday, Agoglia's First Response Team of America departed from Baltimore in a truck headed to meet a ship docked in Florida. The ship is set to sail to Haiti on Monday, arriving two or three days later.
Hitched to the back of the truck was an excavator - a large machine that can help in hauling away the rubble created by fallen buildings. Agoglia hopes he'll be able to help find bodies and clear the way for rebuilding in the city devastated by earthquake damage.
"People need to be dug out," Agoglia said. "I couldn't turn my back to the work that needs to be done there."
Agoglia is a nomad of sorts who runs his organization from all over the country. For the Haiti mission, he started in Baltimore, thanks to the donation of a truck by The Pete Store, a Maryland company that owns six Peterbilt truck dealerships, including one in Baltimore.
Some might call it divine intervention the way the company and the nonprofit came to work together.
Months before the devastation in Haiti, Agoglia had gone to the Peterbilt dealership in Richmond, Va., to try to buy a used truck. The salesman, after hearing about his rescue work, told Agoglia he should stop by the next day and meet owner and president John Arscott.
Arscott rarely watches television, maybe once a month, but couldn't sleep one night and turned on CNN. The segment he watched was about First Response Team of America, which was being honored as a top-10 CNN hero.
Back in Richmond, Arscott didn't recognize Agoglia when he first met him. But when Agoglia started telling his story, he immediately remembered him as the man he'd seen on CNN.
Arscott's company donated three trucks to the organization, complete with insurance and license tags. He also said the group could use a building in Knoxville, Tenn., for office space. Arscott is now also a member of the board of First Response Team of America.
So when the Haiti disaster happened, Agoglia turned to Arscott immediately. Agoglia had been getting e-mail messages and Facebook posts from volunteers and donors, asking whether he was going to help the Haiti victims. He just didn't think he could pull it off.
Agoglia knew he could get people to Haiti but wasn't sure about heavy equipment.
Arscott had faith Agoglia could do it. He donated First Response of America a fourth truck. For the past several days, workers from the Peterbilt dealership in Baltimore have refurbished the truck, painting it and welding a hitch on so the excavator could be attached to the back. Towmaster Trailers of Minnesota donated a trailer and the Cleveland Brothers Caterpillar franchise in Pittsburgh donated use of the excavator.
"What's happened down there is horrific, and we have confidence in that team and know they'll make a difference," said Darrin Foulk of Cleveland Brothers.
"It's a good cause, and it needed to happen quickly," said president David Lundin.
Agoglia will stay in Haiti for a few weeks, but his team of workers will stay for a year, helping with the recovery. "There are a lot of people trying to do stuff with their hands, but I think they need help with the heavy lifting," Agoglia said. "Haiti is so close to home, and the devastation so great. We have to help do what we can."