Swan Valley, MB – Oct. 18-24, 2026

This week a new leadership team join Denis in beautiful Swan Valley. The team members are Judy serving as cook, Anne serving as office manager, Steve serving as construction supervisor, Roger serving as crew leader and Joy serving as a long-term volunteer.

We welcomed weekly volunteers: Carrie, Laura, Sarah and Kate from Ontario, Abe from Manitoba and Doug from Alberta. Thank you, Abe, for stepping up as crew leader.

It was a sunny warm week in Minitonas and we enjoyed the freedom to walk to our job sites or the tool trailers whenever a need arose. The people of Minitonas are exceedingly friendly and grateful. We have all been impacted by their hospitality.

Our projects this week:

• Terry’s basement was panelled and a new subfloor was laid in his bathroom
• Elma’s basement was insulated with fiberglass and Styrofoam sheets
• Barb’s basement was framed and panelling was removed in preparation for drywall
• Pat’s basement was prepared for framing and the framing has begun
• Brandel’s basement was insulated with fiberglass
• Toni’s basement windows were repaired, and some landscaping was done to mitigate future flooding.
• Ron’s old freezer was removed from his basement

We had two homeowners join us for dinner this week.  Terry (and his dog Katie) joined us on Tuesday and Vivian joined us on Thursday.  Their stories impacted us deeply.  In spite of significant losses in their lives, they are anchors in this community, gratefully receiving help and then extending their hands and hearts to others who are in need.

Anne, for Swan Valley