Arcadia, FL – May 5-11, 2024

Ten young ladies from Kentucky and their driver couple arrived Sunday evening ready to apply their skills to the needs in Arcadia. Monday morning two daily volunteers from Oregon arrived to help out for two days. For many of the volunteers this was their first time serving with Mennonite Disaster Service.

Part of the team built stairs at the home of Patrick. Some worked at a local church. They hung and mudded drywall on the ceiling and then painted it. In addition, much to the delight of the pastor, they thoroughly cleaned the church, including all the windows. At the Dennison home, they continued mudding and finishing drywall. They painted the ceiling and walls in the kitchen and living area. Some of the crew worked at the Lewis home, trimming and painting, cutting and setting closet doors and assembling kitchen cabinets. A team repaired vinyl siding and trimmed the exterior door at the Hatcher home. They also removed and installed drywall and painted the bathroom. Several girls remarked the most fun project of the week was removing tiles from the doorway entrances and shower at Miss Valery’s home. They enjoyed the pounding and hammering! The group working at Carole’s home did framing work above the walls, caulked the baseboard and set in place the bathroom door. After an electrician does his job, we will return for more work on her house.

We were thrilled that one of the ladies took time to re-cover some of the cushions in a couple of the campers. Others helped with cleaning up the Hardee County office trailer and other areas of the camp.

Mim Heisey, project coordinator for southwest Florida, joined us for supper Wednesday evening. She brought her granddaughter, a friend and her brother and his wife who had experienced the hurricane. They spoke to us about the disaster and how it affected them and others.

One afternoon, one of the church ladies baked us delicious lemon meringue pies for our dessert that evening. During the week, the cook initiated the “best plate of the week” contest. As everyone filled their plates, she took a picture of the one most perfectly arranged!

Submitted by Josie Swartzentruber for the Arcadia, FL Team

Group Photo Back row l – r: Jonathan Miller, Lucy Miller, Erma Hoover, Inko Ndlovu-Mathuthu, Jack Odhiambo, Mark Epp, Ryan Sprunger, Eric Douglas Middle row l – r: Arlene Rissler, Eileen Burkholder, Julia Shirk, Joyce Burkholder, Cathy Wismer, Alice Wolfgang, Josie Swartzentruber

Front row l – r: Marilyn Horning, Geneva Burkholder, Edna Shirk, Helen Hoover, Miranda Hoover