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Greetings!
Take a moment to listen with me—not to music, but to the sounds of a disaster.
Today nearly 6,500 MDS volunteers annually bring hope with their hands, their hammers—and yes, with their sounds.
But MDS never works alone. Across the country, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) partners bring together dozens of organizations to ensure help is not haphazard, but coordinated. Together, we create what I call the symphony of disaster response.
Listen: In the early hours, it’s the silence—phones dead, calls unanswered. Then, the hiss of steam kettles as meals are prepared by Red Cross and Salvation Army. The steady hum of generators. The smoke and laughter rising from Operation BBQ Relief. Chainsaws buzzing as Team Rubicon clears the way. The pounding of nails as Hope Force International secures tarps before the next rain.
Listen: In a Multi-Agency Resource Center, there is the quiet murmur of survivors telling their stories, the joyful shriek of a child hugging a comfort dog, the careful voices of volunteers walking families through recovery steps.
Listen: At warehouses, forklifts beep as pallets of water, flood buckets, and hygiene kits roll off trucks. At churches, pastors make calls, volunteers pound stakes into the ground for reception centers, and store employees load donated supplies with excitement to be part of the effort. And then—time passes. Survivors grieve the silence: the rooster that no longer crows, the clock that no longer chimes. Slowly, a new sound emerges. The hammer striking nails. The rhythm of rebuilding. The ringing of hope.
I know that each of you adds a note to this symphony with your prayers, volunteering, and donating of funds—you create the sounds of resilience. May we continue, together, to push back the chaos of disaster and participate in a symphony of hope.
Thank you.
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