RV Program founders recall the early days

From an idea to a thriving program. Don and Marilyn Buller, from their home in Fresno, took time to recall how they founded the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) RV Program.

The MDS RV Program comprises a 55+ crowd of close-knit volunteers who get a lot done—and have fun at the same time! Volunteers bring their own RVs to projects, and from there they help rebuild and repair homes for disaster survivors. RV volunteers work together, pray together and play together, often staying in close contact for years after they serve together.

The history of the program involves both inspiration and determination. The Bullers, who retired in 1990 from the California State Government Service, discovered an organization, in 1992, called the Mobile Missionary Assistance Program (MMAP), a Christian-based nonprofit through which people would travel in RVs to various churches, schools, and other nonprofit sites that needed repairs or rebuilds.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the U.S. in 2005, the Bullers heard that MDS was looking for a lot of volunteers.

“We got the idea: why can’t we do something with MDS where we work four days a week, six hours a day and, instead of working three weeks (like MMAP), design it so we work four weeks,” recalled Don. “I drafted up a rough plan of how it could work, and MDS accepted it and asked me to be in charge of implementing it.”

“Having our own place to live in our RVs and being responsible for our own food would be an asset to a newly created MDS RV Program,” he added.

Their first assignment from MDS was in Chunchula, Alabama—to rebuild a home to replace one that had been destroyed by Katrina.

“We went down early, and we advertised for people to contact us directly,” said Don. “Chunchula was in the country, and there were no hookups for trailers.”

Don recruited some volunteers who were experts in electricity and others who could put in water lines for the trailers of future volunteers. “The third thing we had to do, was hook into an existing sewer,” said Don. “We installed all the hookups, and while we were doing that we were recruiting people from the U.S. and Canada. We were off and running.”

That first assignment, the RVers learned a lot. “We made a lot of mistakes but we corrected them,” said Don. “We set it up and designed it so the people in the RV program would volunteer, and they had to accept an obligation of four weeks, six hours a day.”

The Bullers did at least six more projects as RVers—then they retired from the program.

“The hammer was getting too heavy for us,” said Marilyn—but the memories are always with them. “There have been some really good people in the RV program. Some we worked with, and some came along after. They really are the reason it’s still going today. They have been keeping it going and refining it.”

Marilyn’s best memories involve getting to know other volunteers and people from the community in which they helped.

“When you do extracurricular activities together, too, you really get to know each other,” she said. “That’s the thing we miss.”Their close friend Patricia Willems misses the camaraderie as well. She remembers when the Bullers were project directors in Chunchula.

“We became fast friends,” said Willems. “I go and visit them quite frequently. They are absolutely wonderful, wonderful people. They have served so much.

In 2010, the Bullers were honored as the “Good Sam RVers of the Year” by the magazine “Highways” for their work with MDS. The award honors RVers who make the world a better place.

As Don and Marilyn accepted the award, Don said: “When we retired, we wanted to do something besides sit at home and play dominoes. We wanted to use our abilities to help other people.”