wfn.org | Volunteers Help Communities Rebuild

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
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Note 522 by UMNS on Dec. 22, 1997 at 15:33 Eastern (2947 characters).

CONTACT: Linda Bloom					     710(10-21-71B){522}
	    New York (212) 870-3803			Dec. 22, 1997

NOTE: This is the last in a four-part series on relief efforts in the
flood-ravaged Upper Midwest. Photographs are available upon request.

Volunteers form backbone
of Upper Midwest relief work

				A UMNS News Feature
by Linda Bloom*

	When volunteer worker Cecile Adams arrived in Grand Forks, N.D., in November,
she noticed an enthusiasm that contrasted sharply with the bleak rows of empty
houses condemned after the flood.
	As the Michigan woman rolled up her sleeves to begin working with members of
Zion United Methodist Church, she found many people to be upbeat and
optimistic.
     "They're not playing `poor me,’ she said. "They definitely see an
opportunity to rebuild their lives and their town and their congregations."
	Adams, who is council director for the United Methodist Detroit Annual
(regional) conference, was on one of many volunteer work teams that has
assisted in flood recovery in the Dakotas and Minnesota. Her group consisted
of seven council directors from the North Central Jurisdiction.
	Cleone Hagmann and husband Harlyn have coordinated volunteer work assignments
from an office in Minneapolis. They have been delighted with the response from
the national church, Cleone Hagmann said.
	As of December, an estimated 500 work teams had been dispatched to all areas
of flooding, providing more than 50,000 work hours.
	But much work remains.
	"We continue to need workers through the winter," Hagmann reported. "There is
indoor work to be done, and we can provide housing for them." Teams also are
being scheduled for spring and summer.
	Particularly needed are electricians and plumbers licensed to work in those
states, along with people skilled at putting up dry wall and Sheetrock and any
"who can be helpers and follow instructions," she said.
	Work sites range all the way from lower Minnesota to the Canadian border.
Some locations, such as remote rural areas in the Dakotas, have been difficult
to access.
	Much of the effort is focused on rebuilding -- such as installing insulation,
doing foundation work and laying carpet.
     However, many homes need a basic "mud-out" and disinfecting, Hagmann
said. "We're discovering some areas and some homes that have not been
touched."
	By all accounts, the support has been greatly appreciated. 
	Adams recalled "digging like crazy" one Saturday morning as she and her
volunteer team removed dirt from the Zion church basement to prepare for an
elevator shaft and plumbing lines.
	Suddenly, a church member came in, grabbed a shovel, and joined them.
     "It's amazing how it energized us," she said. The next day, someone in
the congregation "made a remark about how we had energized them just by coming
in to work with them."
# # #	
     *Bloom is News Director of the New York Office of United Methodist News
Service.
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