Mennonite Disaster Service

[CountryGent]

​

With all the chaos going down in Texas, I thought I would pass along a charity that I've supported through various ways over the years. It is the Mennonite Disaster Service. After a disaster, they rebuild homes, repair damaged dwellings, clean up debris, etc., for folks of all religious affiliations (or no affiliation at all). Most of the volunteers are part of one the many of Anabaptist sects (e.g., Mennonite, Brethren in Christ, Amish, German Baptist Brethren, etc.), though people from other faith traditions also help. They also have an amateur radio auxiliary called MennoNet that handles communications during their work.

Anyway, in the off chance someone finds it interesting, I thought I would pass along their site, which is here. News on the assessment team deployed to Texas can be read here.

Cheers.

Read More

 

[Cigarlvr313]

Very nice! Thank you for passing this along.

 

[Dungannon]

Mennonite Disaster Service...

Good group. They did a lot of cement work in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. Southern Baptists and Samaritans Purse were easily the best funded and most organized of the religious groups - both rolled in with tractor trailers outfitted with showers, tool shops, etc. Both rented empty warehouses about 10-15 miles inland, and kept them stocked with building materials for volunteer groups. Single checkout with each group [to make sure I wasn't a reselling freeloader] and I was good to roll in with a truck & trailer anytime.

Red Cross and Salvation Army were both underwhelming with the kind of bureaucratic red tape I expected from the government. For example: you can have one set of clothes per person, to families that had nothing but the clothes on their back. We'll feed you one meal, but you have to go through the authorization line each time you show up. Nothing for the volunteer workers that showed up to help people repair their homes. Fortunately most of the volunteers had to good sense to drive there with plenty of supplies to be self-sufficient for a couple weeks.

 

[11Charlie]

That is great!! I really wish that I was in a position to go volunteer and help out. IMHO there is nothing more rewarding than helping those in need.

Thanks for sharing @CountryGent

 

[Hop Sing]

Good people. Thanks for posting this.

 

[GOG]

The Mennonites and Amish, etc. are salt of the earth people.