August 21, 2024

Hello Lisa,

While living overseas for over seven years in Brazil and Jamaica, I missed the four seasons and the unique weather patterns here in the United States. Upon return, I became more aware of the workflow and our seasonal habits of summer vacations, back-to-school events, and holidays.

MDS has seasonal rhythms as well. In the summer, we hosted Summer Youth Programs and Family Camps. This year they were in Florida, Vermont, and South Carolina. Together, they hosted 250 volunteers who helped so many homeowners reach a new beginning.

Currently we are gearing up for the fall season and scheduling volunteers to begin work in October. We expect to have 12 project locations in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington. They include nearly all the natural perils of flooding, fires, tornadoes, and hurricanes. All these locations have the potential to continue into the winter (January through March), our busiest season. This does not include the wonderful work the MDS regions and units are accomplishing locally.

Then, as spring arrives, we close down most of the winter projects, keeping a few projects open for the spring season.

Just as the earth turns on its axis, causing the seasons here in the U.S., we depend on the availability of volunteers to determine the number of project locations.

Our urgent need NOW is for volunteers with maintenance skills to travel to our large warehouse in Columbus, Mississippi, and prepare our tool trailers, shower trailers, kitchen trailers, and office trailers for another season of service. We can provide comfortable accommodations there while you work. To stay in the rhythm, would you consider volunteering a week? If you can’t go, a financial gift would be welcomed to continue to provide safe equipment and good tools for our hardworking volunteers. For more information call our office at 717-735-3536 or go online at www.MDS.org

I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer!

Kevin King, Executive Director

Mennonite Disaster Service in U.S.

On August 7, this photo was posted to the MDS Facebook and Instagram feeds. This iconic photo captured the essence of hard work and service to others. Nearly 600,000 people have seen it, liked it or shared it.

If you have an inspirational photo, feel free to share it with us along with a brief "story behind the photo." Send it to ecommunications@mds.org.

Hope from behind the lens

There’s a story behind this now-famous photo. Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteer Brent Trumbo, who was serving as a crew leader for two weeks in Barre, Vermont, decided to take the picture at the end of a long day mucking out a flooded basement.

Trumbo, from Broadway, Virginia, attends Harrisonburg Mennonite Church, and is a longtime MDS volunteer.

On July 29, he was working with Old Order Mennonite volunteers from Dayton, Virginia, and the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania area.

Click here to read more.

MDS Vermont flood response: where creativity meets caring

Sandra Erickson can create new beginnings out of rubble. The 73-year-old artist watched Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers demolish her crumbling garage, which is attached to the house she’s lived in since January 2002.

When catastrophic flooding hit the area on July 10-11, 2023, the Winooski River overflowed, sending water into Erickson’s home—built in 1890 and previously a general store—and structurally weakening the garage. On the same dates in 2024, the area was again deluged with six inches of rain, flooding the first level of her home, and causing the already-damaged garage to become completely unsafe.

Click here to read more.

"Tugging at my heartstrings"

Mario Cruz is a seasoned Bible camp volunteer. From dishwashing to counseling to maintenance and preaching, he touched almost every corner of camp ministry over five summers.

Camp nurtured the ‘heart, soul and mind’ love for God that he had read about in Mark 12:30. Cruz gained a tangible appreciation for loving God with his strength when he started volunteering with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS).

Click here to read more.