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Service with Compassion

MDS Annual Report 2015

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MDS volunteers are amazing. Throughout the year they are busy responding, rebuilding and restoring the lives of people who have been impacted by disasters. We praise God for their willingness to muck out basements, hammer nails, saw wood, paint walls and equally impor-tant, listen to the stories of disaster survivors.

But often, their acts of service with com-passion come with little extras that tend to go under the radar. I keep in my files clips of sto-ries throughout the year where volunteers serve with an extra bit of compassion.

(Pensacola, FL) As we were cleaning up after work one day, Ivan took out his harmonica and offered to play “Amazing Grace” for Mr. Joe. It was touching to see him sing along. He then was quite thrilled when we picked him up Sunday morning and worshiped with him in his home church.

(High River, Alberta) As the volunteers put the finishing touches on a house and began the work site cleanup, they took some time to leave behind a pile of wood blocks – all suitable for children as building block toys.

(Lititz, PA) In October a group of special needs students were stuffing envelopes assisting MDS with its fund appeal letter. A staff mem-ber explained to them that MDS helps those who need homes rebuilt after hurricanes and

other disasters. In response, one of the student volunteers remarked “I feel like a hero today.”

(Griffithsville, WV) While working on the finishing touches of building a new driveway bridge, the volunteers realized they had extra sand, so they built a sandbox for the neighbor’s three children.

I pray that these acts of service with compas-sion will bring honor and glory to God as we claim Hebrews 6:10: God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

Kevin King, MDS executive DiRectoR

Kevin King (left) and Mr. Baldwin inspect a driveway bridge in West Virginia after flood damage.

“We thank god for all the gifts MDS volunteers bring to people desperately in need of hope.”Kevin King

What does service with compassion look like?

The desert will bloom with flowers, it will be very glad and shout for joy. So, serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord. (Isaiah 35:2 and Ephesians 6:7, NIV)

*www.independentsector.org

Mennonite Disaster Service is a volunteer network of Anabaptist churches that responds in christian love to those affected by disasters in canada and the united States.

While the main focus is on clean up, repair and rebuilding homes, this service touches lives and nurtures hope, faith and wholeness.

in numbers, 2,892 volunteers served 19,852 days with compassion, a value of more than $3.6 million (based on a volunteer rate of $23.07/hour*). Additional volunteers served in many unit and Regional responses lending a hand to those in their local communities.

2015 at a glanCe

2,892 VolunteerS

Long-term 330Short-term 2,390Summer youth 172

200 ClientS SerVed

Clean ups 5Home repairs 157Houses rebuilt 37Bridges rebuilt 1

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On August 11, 2014, five inches of rain fell in and around Detroit, Michigan. It was the second highest rainfall in the area on record for a single day.

In the news were images of flooded high-ways, stranded cars and neighborhood streets covered with water. But in aerial images the lawns of most homes seemed untouched by the flooding. One could assume from this vantage point that the flooding was in the streets only.

It wasn’t. The true disaster was unseen. It was hidden

in the basements of some 120,000 homes where water came rushing through the sewer systems and poured into basements. When

the water finally drained, it left behind soaked basements, the stench of waste and a growing mildew and mold problem that can cause respi-ratory issues for residents.

The flooding in Detroit became the largest disaster response for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 2014, but few people heard about it. Thousands of homeown-ers who could least afford the clean up costs and repairs were affected.

Detroit, once the thriving center of the American automotive industry, has in recent decades faced economic downturns and chang-ing markets leading to high unemployment and many distressed neighborhoods.

“There’s a lot of need here,” says Rev. Becky Wil-son, deacon of the United Methodist Church and project coordinator of the Northwest Detroit Flood Recovery Project. “And even before the flood there were a lot of people who were struggling. So the flood just made that more difficult.”

While MDS and other volunteer agencies have mucked out hundreds of

contaminated basements since the flood, there are many more homes still in need of attention. Repair to basements that are signifi-cant living spaces for families often involves framing work, insulation, drywall, trim and flooring.

In 2016 MDS is preparing for a major fund- and aware-ness-raising effort around Detroit. It is not enough to only clean up and repair. But, it is also an opportunity to connect with our brothers and sisters who will continue to live in an area of economic and social stress long after MDS has left.

Contact MDS to ask how you, your church or your group can be of help.

“Detroit is a wonderful, beautiful place. there’s a lot of need here but also a lot of gifts. Anyone that can come here, there’s ways that you can help. But there are also things you can learn from the wonderful people here.”Rev. BecKy WilSon

“it’s a beautiful day. And i thank you all, everyone of you for all that you’ve done.”eSSie WeStBRooK

the flood no one could see

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Disasters are often explained in numbers of deaths, displaced people and dollars of dam-age, and these are important to understand the depth and breadth of a disaster event. But disasters are also felt at a very personal level.

Woodrow Cullen Jr. recalls the evening in October 2012 when he and his wife were pre-paring dinner and Superstorm Sandy hit their community in Crisfield, Maryland.

“The water started coming in everywhere, and it came in every door at one time,” Cullen said, recounting the first signs that things were turning bad. The next morning the Cullens were stranded on the second floor of their home. The rest of Crisfield, which sits along the Chesapeake Bay, was covered in 5 feet of water.

Walking through the foot-high weeds and grass, Francis Desabrais of High River, Alberta, points out the beauty of the place that was once her home.

Her house sat contentedly along the banks of the Highwood River until the June 2013 flood of the century forced the river and others over their banks, inundating large portions of Alberta south of Calgary. Francis and her chil-dren were forced to flee.

While their home could have been repaired, Francis and her family never returned because the land is now part of the redefined flood plan for the community. They had to move.

When another homeowner who had lost their home in the flood heard of Francis’ situ-ation, they offered her the opportunity to be part of a new duplex they would build, with them on one side and Francis on the other. MDS built the duplex.

As Woodrow Cullen’s house dried out, the mold and mildew became too much. A strong and resourceful man, he struggled to fix his house. Eventually he reached out to the local recovery committee. Reduced to tears, he asked for help.

By September 2015, he and his wife were in a new house built by MDS and other local partners. Cullen had never planned to leave his plot of land in Crisfield, and as a matter of fact, there is no reason for him to leave now.

In June 2015, Francis Desabrais in High River still felt the loss of her home, but now she could look to the future for herself and her children because they have a new home.

For both families, the devastation of their loss took its toll, but the hope for the future came when local long-term recovery commit-

tees and MDS joined with other groups to make certain they each had new homes.

The communities of Crisfield and High River are thousands of miles and a country apart, but both reflect the commitment of MDS and its partners to make a difference in people’s lives and complete the job, one home at a time.

Completing the job, one home at a time

SupeRStoRM SAnDy

Hitting in October 2012, Superstorm Sandy (officially known as Hurricane Sandy) was the deadliest storm to hit the northeastern U.S. in 40 years.

Homes damaged by wind and flooding 650,000+Estimated storm damage $50–$80 billion

Locations served by MDS: Staten Island and Far Rockaway, New YorkSayreville, New JerseyWebster Springs, West VirginiaCrisfield, Maryland

Volunteers came from 8 Canadian provinces and 26 U.S. states to serve with MDS.

Years of MDS long-term response 2012–2015 Number of MDS volunteers 4,900+Volunteer days worked 28,000+ Home repairs completed 320 Houses rebuilt 25

HigH RiveR, AlBeRtAHeavy rainfall on June 20, 2013, triggered catastrophic flooding in southern portions of Alberta, Canada. Within days, MDS volunteers began to muck out homes and clean up flood debris.

Number of people displaced 100,000 Estimated flood damage $6 billion

Years of MDS response 2013–2015Number of MDS volunteers 1,000+Volunteer days served 6,600 Clean ups and home repairs completed 151Houses rebuilt 4

“Building those relationships and that sense of community. it’s much more than just swinging a hammer and paint some trim.”JoHn FRieSen, volunteeR

Woodrow Cullen Jr.

Francis Desabrais

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A new driveway bridge stretching across a creek near Griffithsville, WV is “a first” for many people — the first time Ruth and Joshua Plum-ley have a bridge that will withstand repeat flooding, the first time MDS has completed a driveway bridge, the first time a state Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) has completed a private bridge building project.

In Lincoln County, where the Plumley’s live, more than 80 residents are coping with loss of the bridges that lead to their homes. Across southwest West Virginia there are more than 300 bridges out due to five different floods that hit the area in 2015.

The Plumley’s bridge is the fruit of many small “bridges” that have been built not just across creeks but between people and organiza-tions, points out Jenny Gannaway, chair of the West Virginia VOAD.

Gannaway says she remembers her early conversations with MDS Region I secretary, Rodney Burkholder about the serious need in West Virginia.

“We both knew we had to do something,” she said, and Burkholder agreed. But he knew that designing and building a bridge was new territory for MDS, involving a different set of permits, materials and structural design. While individuals involved with MDS had structural

and collaboration. “Without those four C’s, recovery can’t happen,” she said.

The first bridge was completed in early December and then a week later a second bridge. The driveway bridges are being designed by JZ Engineering, a structural engineering company based in Harrisonburg, VA.

A local excavator digs the footers and lays the steel beams in place. Skilled MDS vol-unteers are on site led by Peter Thiessen, an MDS project coordinator with more than two decades of commercial and residential construc-tion experience.

As he helped complete the Plumley’s bridge, Thiessen reflected on why he had come to West Virginia — far away from his home in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada. “I came here because I see people like the Plumleys as my neighbors in need,” he said. “I plan to build one bridge at a time here.”

He commended the volunteers who had traveled to the site from Ohio and Pennsyl-

vania. “They want to work,” he said, “and I believe it is part of their call to service.”

One of those volunteers is Cletus Yoder, who has been working on disaster recovery projects with MDS since 2005. A structural engineer who built power plants, Yoder lost his wife sev-eral years ago and said he signs up for volunteer trips not only to use his skills but simply to be with people.

As Thiessen and Yoder share their thoughts together, they both say they are grateful for the places their work with MDS has brought them.

Breaking out of a serious expression, Yoder exclaims: “We’re building a bridge!”

engineering expertise, as an organization, this would be the first vehicle bridge MDS ever built.

“I drove home from that first meeting going back and forth: we can’t let this go, we can’t do it, we can’t let this go, we can’t do it,” Burkholder said. Then he remembered Ruth Plumley turning to her husband and saying, “Honey? Are we really going to get a bridge?”

So Burkholder and Gannaway refused to let it go. MDS provided an engineer. Other organiza-tions and the state VOAD provided the capacity to get permits from the state and make certain there would be support for the bridge project.

Gannaway believes that this kind of col-laboration is part of the “four Cs” of VOAD: cooperation, communication, coordination,

Bridging the collaboration gap in West Virginia

“i must say i’m delighted to be a part of this story.”peteR tHieSSen, pRoJect DiRectoR

“We love working with MDS. these are super rewarding projects. you get to take your skills and put them to work and make something happen that really makes a difference in people’s lives.” etHAn gingeRicH, engineeR

The Plumleys

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2015 MdS Binational Projects

IV

Where the Volunteers cAme from By regIon

IV68 III

233

V768

II468 I

1,330

outside of us/canada: 25

IV

DAyS cleAn HoMe HouSeS DiSASteR volunteeRS WoRKeD upS RepAiRS ReBuilt

AlBertA

High River flood (June 2013) 325 2,749 — 24 4

colorAdo

Jamestown flood (September 2013) 292 1,796 — 23 2

florIdA

Pensacola flood (April 2014) 169 1,238 — 15 —Pensacola (RV) flood (April 2014) 22 458 — 7 —Walton County (RV) flood (April–May 2014) 40 799 — 9 —

mArylAnd

Crisfield hurricane (October 2012) 640 3,947 — 2 12

mIchIgAn

Detroit flood (August 2014) 46 302 2 5 —

mIssIssIppI

Columbia (Storm Aid) tornado (December 2014) 313 1,624 3 20 7Hattiesburg (RV) tornado (February 2013) 4 235 — 3 1Louisville (Storm Aid) tornado (April 2014) 193 1,059 — 14 3

neBrAskA

Pilger tornado (June 2014) 385 2,442 — 5 6

neW york

Far Rockaway hurricane (October 2012) 165 962 — 22 —

texAs

Bastrop flood (May 2015) 48 338 — 3 —Bastrop (RV) flood (May 2015) 8 166 — 3 —

WAshIngton

Pateros wildfire (July 2014) 91 892 — 2 2

West VIrgInIA

Lincoln County flood (Spring 2015) 16 61 — — 1 bridge

high river

redberry Bible camp

camp elim

detroit

lincoln county

hattiesburg

louisville

columbia

crisfield

far rockaway

Bastrop

AlBertA

sAskAtcheWAn

WAshIngton

colorAdo

neBrAskA

mArylAnd

florIdA

neW york

mIssIssIppI

mIchIgAn

West VIrgInIA

texAs

Jamestown

rocky mtn camp

pilger

pateros

pensa

cola

Walt

on county

trAdItIonAl proJect rV progrAm summer youth proJectstorm AId

SuMMeR youtH pRoJectS

crIsfIeld, mArylAnd37 youth and adult sponsors painted and repaired homes.

redBerry BIBle cAmp (sask.)47 youth and adult sponsors built bunk beds and rebuilt fences.

rocky mtn menn. cAmp (col.)39 youth and adult sponsors worked at forest fire mitigation.

cAmp elIm (saskatchewan) 49 volunteers worked together at this family project building cabins.

DiSASteR StuDieS In 2015, 10 Hesston College students graduated from the Disaster Management program. Ten were enrolled in the fall. In the summer, students completed their MDS field experience in Crisfield, MD.

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Region i

Union Grove, NC volunteers cleaned up after a fire at Briar Creek Road Baptist Church in Charlotte.

Shenandoah Valley and Casselman Valley units repaired a bakery in Griffithsville, WV, and then others helped in bridge building.

A new MDS Unit formed in northern New York, the Finger Lakes Unit.

Congregational Contact Person (CCP) trainings held in Harrington, DE, Harrisonburg and Newport News, VA.

Early Response Team (ERT) training held in Lancaster, PA.

ERT volunteers did clean up in South Carolina after flooding.

Region iv

Washington Unit took responsibility for building two homes in Pateros, WA, which were destroyed in the Carlton Complex Fire of 2014.

Region IV repaired two homes in Puna, Hawaii, that had been essentially destroyed by Hurricane Iselle in Aug. 2014.

MDS Idaho Unit and Region IV is supporting the efforts of the Long Term Recovery Committee in Kamiah, ID, to raise funds for building materials and case management

Region IV had a productive and energetic annual meeting in September at Trinity Mennonite Church in Phoenix, Arizona.

Region ii

The Michigan and Indiana Units coordinated Detroit flood response, mucking out homes and other facilities.

MDS Storm Aid built homes in Louisville and Columbia, MS.

Illinois Unit cleaned from tornados in Coal City, Delavan, Cameron, Ogle and Dekalb County.

Volunteers cleared damage from high winds in Monroe, Wisconsin.

Flood clean up in Watseka, Illinois and Liberty Center, Indiana.

Volunteers cleaned up damage from August straight-line winds in Attica, Indiana.

Western Ohio Unit repair work in Richwood, OH, from Scioto River flood.

Michigan Unit in Detroit response and tree removal from northern Michigan storm.

Eastern Ohio Unit repaired damaged by straight-line winds in Lisbon, OH.

Arthur Mennonite Church and Sunnyside Mennonite Church in Illinois participate in Partnership Home Project (PHP) in Pilger, NB,

Early Response Team training held in Topeka, Indiana.

Region iii

Local units responded to 13 tornado and three flooding events, and one major fire. These included Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas N/E and Texas West.

Oklahoma Unit continues to respond in Grandfield for repairs as a result of a devastating hail storm in the spring of 2012.

The Search and Rescue (SAR) Team from the Arkansas Unit had a very busy year engaging in various types of rescue and recovery efforts.

MdS region & local unit activity

Briar creek road Baptist church

detroit, michigan

Bridge creek, oklahoma

pateros, Washington

MDS locAl unitS

Region vMDS Alberta Unit MDS Atlantic Canada Unit MDS British Columbia UnitMDS Manitoba UnitMDS Ontario UnitMDS Quebec UnitMDS Saskatchewan Unit

Region ivMDS Arizona Unit MDS California Unit MDS Idaho UnitMDS Oregon Unit MDS Washington Unit

Region iiiMDS Arkansas UnitMDS Colorado UnitMDS Iowa Unit MDS Kansas Unit MDS Minnesota UnitMDS Missouri Unit MDS Montana Western UnitMDS Nebraska Unit MDS New Mexico Unit MDS North Dakota Unit MDS Oklahoma UnitMDS South Dakota UnitMDS Texas West Unit

Region ii MDS Alabama & Northwest Florida Unit MDS Eastern Ohio-NW PA UnitMDS Illinois Unit MDS Indiana & Lower Michigan Unit MDS Kentucky/Tennessee UnitMDS Michigan UnitMDS Mississippi/Louisiana UnitMDS Wisconsin UnitMDS Western Ohio Unit

Region i MDS Delmarva Peninsula Unit MDS Finger Lakes UnitMDS Florida Central & South UnitMDS Georgia UnitMDS New York Unit MDS North Carolina UnitMDS Pennsylvania Casselman Valley Unit MDS Pennsylvania Cumberland Valley Unit MDS Pennsylvania East & New Jersey MDS Pennsylvania Juniata Unit MDS Pennsylvania Lancaster Area Unit MDS Pennsylvania Northern Unit MDS Pennsylvania West & Maryland Unit MDS Puerto Rico UnitMDS South Carolina Unit MDS Virginia Eastern Unit MDS Virginia Shenandoah Valley Unit

Region v

Region V completed the High River, Alberta, flood response in September.

The Saskatchewan Unit hosted a summer youth project at Redberry Bible Camp near Saskatoon and the Family Project at Camp Elim near Swift Current.

The Manitoba Unit cleaned out a house in Spruce Woods for a client with health issues.

The Manitoba Unit completed the “raising” of a Breezy Point house flooded in 2011.

The Ontario Unit worked on two main Unit responses, a house fire rebuild in downtown Kitchener and a basement rebuild in Stoney Creek to remediate mold.

The Ontario Unit is promoting and assisting in the Detroit response. puna, hawaii

redberry Bible camp

IV

IVIII

V

II I

IV

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Work safe, be safeAn MDS worksite is a place of joy and excite-ment as volunteers, homeowners and partner organizations come together for one goal, to bring people home after they survive a natural or manmade disaster.

An MDS worksite is also a place where there are potential hazards that could cause injury if the volunteers and staff fail to put safety at the top of their “to do” list each day.

MDS is committed to making certain that all volunteers have a safe and inspiring experi-ence at MDS worksites.

To that end, in 2015 the MDS field opera-tions and volunteer coordination teams joined together with MDS communications to pro-mote work site safety at all MDS worksites.

This long-term effort is meant to strengthen steps taken in recent years to provide more safety-related resources. In 2013, MDS pro-duced a fold-out manual detailing worksite safety. The manual offers details on everything from protective equipment, working at heights, handling tools, cleaning up and demolition to what to do when there is an accident.

In 2015, a video titled “Work Safe, Be Safe” was produced. It is shown to all volunteers dur-ing their worksite orientation at the beginning of their assignment. The video reminds volun-teers of what they must do on a daily basis to

work safely. It is also available to view online at the MDS You Tube channel.

Work Safe, Be Safe posters were also pro-duced to accompany the video and hang in prominent locations at the worksite.

“MDS has been blessed with great leader-ship at MDS worksites who take worker safety very seriously,” Barb Schrag, MDS Volunteer Development Leader said. “But safety needs a daily reminder, particularly since each week new volunteers rotate in and out of the worksite.

“We are fortunate to have experienced very few mishaps and accidents at MDS worksites,” she said. “Work Safe, Be Safe is a renewed effort to make certain that MDS worksites are accident free.”

To learn more about MDS safety informa-tion, visit the MDS website.

“our goal is to continue building a culture of safety at MDS worksites.”BARB ScHRAg, volunteeR Dev. leADeR

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A young Mennonite volunteer from Slovakia took a moment from pounding nails into the wall frame of an MDS house being built at Mennonite World Conference (MWC) in July. She wanted to frame-up what MDS was all about.

She had just learned about MDS and was one of hundreds of volunteers taking an after-noon from the international assembly being held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to make a difference in someone’s life.

“Sometimes all you want to do is give up,” she said referring to those who had suffered from a disaster. “But there are other people all around the world that won’t let you and they will try to give you hope,” she continued with a reassuring smile.

There is not much more that could be said about the thousands of MDS volunteers who annually participate in responding to disasters, rebuilding homes and restoring lives.

They are there so folks won’t give up. They are there to bring hope.

So, too were several hundred international Mennonite volunteers from Zimbabwe, India, Indonesia, Slovakia, France, Colombia, Kenya, Canada and the U.S. who helped to build two homes, one bound for the Cullens in Crisfield, MD; the other for the Staubs in Pilger, NB.

The volunteers came in all ages, women and men, all wanting to be part of something bigger than themselves, something that had meaning, something that made a difference.

“It is important for the church to minister this way to people in need,” Rev. Jakkula David of India said while donning an MDS hat and MWC t-shirt, and holding a hammer in his hand.

After the walls went up David proclaimed, “I helped build a house. I am part of it!”

During the weeklong conference the floors and sidewalls of the homes were framed and then loaded onto trucks bound for Maryland and Nebraska.

The houses were then completed on loca-tion by MDS volunteers and volunteers from the MDS Partnership Home Program (PHP). Groups, churches and others sponsor PHP homes, unlike other MDS projects where fund-ing comes from local or other sources.

This was the first time MDS had built “world” homes, so to speak. The homeowners were made aware of the fact that their houses were partly built by people from around the world and each received note cards from the international volunteers.

The families were able to move into their new homes before winter.

Sometimes all you want to do is give up

“pretty amazing. it’s awesome that there’s people out there that are willing to help like that.”SAvAnnAH StAuB

“it actually touched me a lot to see MDS volunteers whenever there’s some disaster, helping out people who have lost their houses. i really feel like i need to come out and help.”DelpHin MongeR, ugAnDA

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2015 2014 2015 2014

Beginning net Assets 1,705,000 $1,382,000 10,564,000 $10,696,000

reVenue 1,023,000 1,230,000 3,692,000 3,110,000Contributions and Grants 981,000 1,193,000 3,693,000 2,926,000Other Revenue 42,000 37,000 (1,000) 184,000

expendItures 1,005,000 907,000 3,870,000 3,242,000Program/Project 782,000 673,000 2,899,000 2,369,000Supporting Activities 202,000 208,000 832,000 748,000Fundraising 21,000 26,000 139,000 125,000

ending net Assets $1,723,000 $1,705,000 $10,386,000 $10,564,000

Program/Project % 77.8% 74.2% 74.9% 73.1%Support % 22.2% 25.8% 25.1% 26.9%

How did MdS use my donation?

cAnAdA (CDN DOLLARS)

unIted stAtes (US DOLLARS)

Program Leadership $238,000 6% Hurricane Sandy ’12 $579,000 15% Mississippi Tornadoes ’14 $268,000 7% Pilger Nebraska Tornadoes ’14 $145,000 4% Colorado Flooding ’13 $120,000 3% Pateros Washington Flooding ’14 $120,000 3% Region Project Responses $111,000 3% Other Project Responses $365,000 9% General Project Expenses $953,000 25% Supporting Activities $832,000 21% Fundraising $139,000 4%

Program Leadership $34,000 3% Alberta Flooding ’13 $381,000 38% Other Binational Project Responses $67,000 7% Other Region V & Region V Unit Projects $62,000 6% General Project Expenses $238,000 24% Supporting Activities $202,000 20% Fundraising $21,000 2%

BinAtionAl StAFF 2015

Alicia hurst Volunteer Placement Coord.Angeline Bergman Staff Accountant/Exec. Asst. (CAN)Arleta martin Executive AssistantBarb schrag Volunteer Development Team LeaderBarb Weaver Communications AssistantBrett troyer Project Logistics Coordinatorevelyn peters-rojas Human Resources/Project Coord. (CAN)ginny sauder Admin. Asst./Database Admin.heidi charles Staff AccountantJanet plenert Director Region V Operations (CAN)Jeff koller Disaster Response Coordinator, Regions III and IVJerry grosh Director of Field Operationskevin king Executive Directorlanae Weaver Receptionist/Admin. Asst.larry stoner Disaster Response Coordinator, Regions I and IImark Beach Communications Specialistron guenther Assistant Executive Directorross penner Incoming Director Region V Operations (CAN)

BoARD oF DiRectoRS

ed Buhlerharold friesenJohn eshlemanfrank hooverJorge Jaramilloleonard kennellAl kroekermary litwillercatrina miillerross millerWaldimar neufeldphil troyerpaul unruhAlfred yoder

BoARD oF DelegAteS

esther Buckron Bylermel currydenis keatingkarla friesendaryl gerlachWilmer hooverglen kauffmanWilliam mastVernon schmuckerAlbert schrockWayne schrockJane slabaughrebecca sommerskathy Wiestmorris yoderray Zimmerman

Nearly two feet of rain fell in central South Carolina in early October 2015. Thousands of homes in 46 counties were damaged from what was called the flood of the century. MDS volunteers responded with clean up, mucking out and rebuilding of homes. The work continues into 2016.

2015 uniteD StAteS expenDituReS Program and supporting activities (US DOLLARS)

2015 cAnADA expenDituReS Program and supporting activities (CDN DOLLARS)

2015 FinAnciAl Activity

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MennoniteDisasterService

cover photo: Volunteers build a driveway bridge for the plumleys in lincoln county, WV.design: Julie kauffman photos: paul hunt, mark Beach, Julie kauffman, mds volunteers

mds.mennonite.net

MDS Binational Office 583 Airport Road Lititz, PA 17543 (717) 735-3536 toll-free (800) 241-8111 mdsus@mds.mennonite.net

MDS Region V Office 6A-1325 Markham Rd Winnipeg, MB R3T 4J6 (204) 261-1274 toll-free (866) 261-1274 mdscn@mds.mennonite.net

MDS has shown that ordinary people, if they are dedicated and put in a place of need can do great things.

the MdS Church

Contact Person,

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people in your

congregation to

people in need

after disaster.

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mds is a member of national Voluntary organizations Active in disaster.

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