Airplanes swooping down low over the cotton fields of Alabama. That’s one of Doris Hale’s first memories as a little girl. “I was born November 30, 1965,” she said. “My mother worked in the fields, and we stayed on people’s places.”...
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Gavin Hadley likes to change things up sometimes. As the 15-year-old from Faith Mennonite Church in Newton, Kansas helped a crew build a new home in Welsh, Louisiana as part of a Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Summer Youth Project, he...
The Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Annual Celebration, held January 21-22 in Sarasota, Florida, drew nearly 400 joyful participants, some in-person and some through a livestream. Together, they reminisced, reconnected, and shared their vision for...
Photo by Joanne Murray. * By Joanne Murray “Our roof was blown off as we huddled in the corner of our porch from six in the morning until nine at night. Nothing like this had ever happened to us before.” That’s how Shirley Kent vividly...
Jeffery Moseley is a patient man. As the resident of Marianna, Fla. watched Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) close the doors on his half-built home in December because of a spike in COVID-19 cases, he knew the volunteers would be back. “COVID has...
For people in Marianna, Florida, MDS volunteers are the biggest Christmas gift of all. As 20-year-old Chris Whitehead worked alongside the MDS crew removing shingles from his grandmother’s house, he shared his harrowing storm story. Whitehead and...
Lee County, Alabama Tornado MDS sent in an investigation team to Macon, Barbour and Lee counties to determine the needs and how MDS can be most helpful. Search and rescue efforts have been wrapped up and everyone is accounted for. Permits to travel...
For 17 days straight – every day since Hurricane Michael struck – Rebecca Hambly has been clearing debris from her yard on the rural outskirts of Marianna, Florida. As she continues to walk back and forth, carrying bundles of branches,...
Dwight Cloud is still, little by little, clearing debris from his yard, more than two weeks after Hurricane Michael struck his town of Marianna, Florida. Though his 100-year-old house somehow weathered the storm, he lost many large trees, some of...
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