New MDS warehouse in California will streamline help to disaster survivors

A new warehouse in Kingsburg, California, will help MDS streamline its flow of equipment and tools for volunteers. A groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 14 kicked off construction of the 7,200-foot warehouse, which will be complete by spring of 2023.

The warehouse will provide space for volunteer training, as well as space for building walls and house components—in other words, a short-term project site for people who may have a day or two to volunteer but can’t spend a week traveling to a project.

Instead of moving vehicles and equipment hundreds of miles, MDS will have ready access for a more rapid response that can help even more disaster survivors.

“In years past, tools and equipment had been kept at farms or properties of MDS unit leaders throughout the west coast,” explained Darrin Yoder, MDS field operations manager. “While they were very generous to allow us to do this, the equipment was spread out all over the west coast which made maintenance and repairs difficult.”

The warehouse, Yoder added, “will centralize things to allow us to have a secure place for storage as well as a place for training and other MDS activities.”