Since March, 76 people from across Canada have served with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) in Cape Breton. Here are reflections from a few of them. More volunteers are needed this summer; see bottom of article. Peter Hildebrand of Leamington...
“It felt like the roof was going to come right off.” That’s how Tara Babcock described the night Hurricane Fiona struck her home in Sydney, Cape Breton. As it was, the storm—which hit September 24, last year—tore shingles off the roof and...
Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada is monitoring the wildfire situation in northern Alberta, where 78 fires are burning—24 of them out of control. “It’s too early to know what, if anything, we might be called on to do,” said Ross Penner...
Judy Schmidt likes to cook—even for 20 or more people at a time. That’s what the 66-year-old retired banker was doing in March, where she served as head cook for a month with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) in Jennings, Lousiana. For Schmidt,...
After living for nearly a year in a small trailer with no running water or electricity, Lisa and Gary England finally opened the door to a new home. They need a safe place to rest. Lisa has just started dialysis, and Gary recently had heart...
Eastern Kentucky is a unique place. Families are closely knit for generations. Many have never left Kentucky…or if they did, only for a brief visit. Kentucky is home! Even real estate is familial, passed down from generation to generation. ...
Crooked roads, crooked walls, crooked ceilings, too—as they worked with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) installing drywall in a home in Breathitt County, Kentucky, Carol and Richard Bergman of Grunthal, Man. realized nothing was quite straight...
By Elaine Maust When Hurricane Rita roared through South Louisiana in 2005, she decimated Premeau Subdivision near Cameron. During Rita, the home of Ronald (Bean) and Ima Jean Gaspard and their adult son, Ronnie, disappeared. “It took my house...
After assessing needs in many communities in the wake of spring tornadoes, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) will focus on long-term response in the midwest and south. Though MDS is not deploying Early Response Teams to the tornado-damaged areas,...
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