When Hurricane Helene sent a tree crashing through his house in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Johnny thought his family home was ruined forever. The storm struck in September 2024, and he moved to Maryland, at least temporarily, while he sorted...
Beds donated by Sleep in Heavenly Peace Before a family even walked through the door of their newly built home in Conroe, Texas, the kids had already been welcomed. Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit that constructs beds for children, donated beds...
From building new homes to knitting prayer shawls for the homeowners, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers made a big difference in the small Louisiana town of Ironton. The unincorporated African American town in Plaquemines Parish was deeply...
On June 7, 2026, heavy rainfall (180 millimetres) across western Manitoba caused significant flooding throughout the Swan Valley region, affecting rural areas as well as the towns of Swan River and Minitonas. Rising water overwhelmed drainage systems...
A group of men were ripping open the roof of Jasmine’s house. The windows were all broken. One guy was tearing plywood off of the wall. Jasmine sat on the edge of the wooden sidewalk and smiled at me, though there were tears in her eyes. “It’s...
MDS’s website currently lists an opportunity for volunteers from across the US to serve in the town of Spencer, Iowa (though to be fair, all available date ranges listed between Jun 28 and August 29th are “FULL”). In June 2024, The Little...
Of all the things lost in the 2025 wildfire that destroyed their home in Denare Beach, Saskatchewan, it was losing her sacred bundle that hurt Carmell Monias the most. For the Indigenous woman, the bundle contained some of her most special...
Looking for local volunteer opportunities in Western Washington? The MDS Washington Unit connects volunteers with disaster recovery projects across Skagit, Snohomish, and surrounding counties, helping homeowners recover from flood damage, debris...
Many Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers have met Miss Hazel—or Hazel Cropper…or her most famous name: “Hurricane Hazel.” Known as one of the matriarchs of the small town of Crisfield, Maryland, Miss Hazel holds world records in crab...
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