November 15, 2023

Hello Jesse,

Many times, the disasters we respond to are large. That was in the case in Cape Breton, where we repaired 44 homes damaged by Hurricane Fiona. But sometimes it’s just one house we fix up or rebuild. That’s what’s happening in Alberta following a tornado in Carstairs.

Led by the Alberta Unit, we are building a new home for a multigenerational household of Elisa Humphreys, her son, daughter-in-law and their family. 

Both families lost their houses when the tornado struck on July 1. When Elisa returned to her property after the tornado passed by, “everything was gone,” she said. “Vanished. All there was was a debris field. Even the fence posts were sucked right out of the ground.” (You can read the full story about the tornado in the link below.)

The community turned out to clean up the property, but now MDS is providing them with a new home where they will live together. To make that possible, a total of $120,000 is needed for materials. You are invited to be part of the rebuilding effort by making a donation to help Elisa and her family return home. You can give at https://mds.org/donate-canada or send a cheque to MDS Canada, 200-600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB, R3P 2J1. 

Whether it’s many homes or just one, disasters still have a profound impact on those who experience them. And whether it’s many homes or just one, MDS is glad to respond to help people get home. Thanks for helping bring families home.

Executive Director

Mennonite Disaster Service Canada

P.S. While our service in Canada has ended for the year, MDS still needs volunteers in the U.S. If you can serve this fall or winter, go to our website for more information or to sign up. www.mds.org.

Helping others "what the Lord

is leading us to do"

For Abe Wiebe of Winkler, Manitoba, service with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) in Cape Breton was a way to honour his father. “My dad was a servant of the Lord all his life,” he said of his father, also named Abe.



The senior Wiebe was a minister in the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church for 45 years and served on the Mennonite Central Committee Canada board.

“He instilled that same passion for service in me,” Wiebe said. “He showed us that is what we should be doing with our lives.”

Click here to read more.

Join the MDS Annual Celebration!

Join us for the Annual Celebration, February 23 & 24 in Fresno, California. Be inspired by stories about volunteers making a difference across the U.S. and Canada.

Registration is now open.

Click here to read more.

MDS has volunteer opportunities for you!

See the full list of volunteer opportunities when you click here.

  Contact volunteer@mds.org or 

call 1-800-241-8111 with any questions or to schedule a week. 

Your continued support helps with recruiting volunteers, moving equipment, setting up accommodations, replenishing supplies, and many other things needed to get going.