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Photo of a young adult MDS volunteer installing house wrap on a recent project.

News & Stories

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Michelle and Ted Swanson pose for a picture inside a kitchen

“We have a home to live in again”

When the evacuation order came, Michelle Swanson thought to herself: “Wow—this is really happening!” Michelle, 21, who lives with her father, Ted, 60, in Arnold, didn’t expect the water to flood their home on that mid-November day in 2021....

Mark Rempel, Tom Johnstone sign job card

“A slow walk out of darkness”

Asleep on the second floor of their house in Arnold, B.C. Rebecca and Tom Johnstone didn’t know the flood had arrived. “We didn’t hear the siren,” said Johnstone, 55. “A neighbour came to the door and told us to get out.” Johnstone...

Shelley Dueck Dorothy and Al Balzer are gifted a quilt during their home dedication

“Volunteers became our friends.”

When the bridge across the Sumas drainage canal was washed away, Al and Dorothy Balzer knew they were in trouble. The older couple, who live on property beside the canal in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, had watched the water rise in mid-November 2021...

Evelyn Greenwood poses in front of a blue wall for a photo

“MDS was such a big part of her life”

All was quiet on September 6 at 9 a.m. as Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers in Monte Lake, B.C. put down their tools and paused for a moment of silence. They were doing it in memory of Evelyn Greenwood, a long-time volunteer with MDS, who...

Shelley Dueck presents quilt to Michelle and Ted Swanson upon home dedication outside

“Forever grateful for the help”

“What brought us together was a disaster, a loss, a trauma, something we can never forget.” With those words, Mark Rempel of the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) B.C. Unit began the first of four home dedications on September 10 at the home of...

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