Port Charlotte, FL – Jan. 12-18, 2025

The week started rather quietly.  Our weekly volunteers came from the Groffdale Conference in Pennsylvania.  Participants’ names were chosen in a drawing to serve with MDS.  When they arrived, someone asked them if they knew each other since they were from the same geographic area.  Someone replied, “We do now” after they had spent hours together in the van.   Even so, many remained quiet and shy, especially around the long-term volunteers.  So one evening we had everyone involved in a “minute to win it” games—moving ping pong balls on a spoon to a bowl across the room, picking up macaroni with raw spaghetti and moving it to a plate, or moving marshmallows to another bowl with a straw.  Laughter rang out and people had fun doing these activities.  Other evening activities included volleyball—even when the lights in the building went out.  They could continue playing volleyball with lighting provided by a generator.  On Wednesday evening Pastor Devon Beisser Andrews of our home base church, Wintergarden Presbyterian Church, shared about her family’s experience as they waited out Hurricane Ian.  She also shared about how Ian affected the church building and described the rebuilding/renovation process of the building.  Indoor activities in the evening included ping pong, music, and a variety of card games. 

A variety of jobs were done—lots of drywall mudding, painting, trim work, ceilings repaired, and flooring laid.  Cabinets and windows were installed, a shower insert was installed.  (That job went much better when they got the right size of base and insert.)  Some of the jobs are nearing completion and a few new jobs were begun.  Relating to the survivors provided meaningful experiences. 

Larry Stoner, David Kanagy, and Stanley and Christine Jantzi visited on their return from Puerto Rico.  We enjoyed visiting with them and Mim Heisey before they attended a meeting in Sarasota. 

The cooks have volunteered at the Food Pantry organized by the Church helping to distribute food boxes.  On Thursday afternoons up to 550 families are given food.  Devon said that covers one per cent of Charlotte County’s population. 

For Port Charlotte MDS, 

Edith, Lisa and Marv, Dennis and Mildred, Renee and Terry, Ray, Jacob and Micah