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Hello Jesse,
“People are really thankful. They can’t imagine we are doing it for free.” That’s what Nick Hamm of the MDS Ontario Unit said about the tree cutting service MDS is providing Nova Scotia following Hurricane Fiona.
“They can’t believe people do this sort of thing as volunteers," he said. "We tell them we are doing it because that’s what our faith calls us to do, to help our neighbours.”
Helping neighbours when they have experienced a disaster is the reason MDS exists. Since the 1950s, people in Canada and the U.S. have felt God’s call to respond when people are need. They still feel that call today, volunteering or donating to help us help people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed.
While that goal hasn't changed, what's different today is the idea of neighbour. At first, it meant helping people in a local community, state or province. But for MDS today it means anyone in Canada or the U.S. who has been impacted by a disaster—like people in Atlantic Canada.
That is where we have an urgent need right now for volunteers to help with clean-up. In Cape Breton, where we are working, many trees were blown down and many people have damaged roofs. We need experienced chain saw operators and roofers over the next few weeks to cut up fallen trees and tarp roofs for the winter. We also need lots of people to help assist with moving cut up trees and general clean-up.
For most of us who support MDS in Canada, Atlantic Canada is far away. But the people there are our neighbours, too. They need our help. In particular, we want to help those who, due to age, illness, disability or lack of resources, can’t do the work themselves.
If you can volunteer, we can assist with your travel costs. Accommodations and food are also provided. Contact Clara Flores at [email protected] or call her at 1-866-261-1274 to sign up! And if you can’t go, but want to support our work with a financial gift, you can make a donation at www.mds.org.
Thanks!
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