MDS helps ice storm victims

KITCHENER, ONT.

In Quebec, MDS and Mennonite Central Committee workers provided support to a number of Baptist congregations running relief operations in the "triangle of darkness" on Quebec's south shore.

MDS has shipped six portable generators from Manitoba to Quebec. One is being used by the pastor of a Baptist church in St-Hyacinthe. It provides a bit of heat and light in his house, which has been converted into a coordinating centre for the congregation's relief efforts, said Jean-Victor Brosseau, director of MCC in Quebec. Another generator is being used by a parishioner who suffered a heart attack a week after the storm and whose basement flooded. The pastor of a Baptist church in Granby picked up two generators for his parishioners, one of them a farmer looking for a generator to run his water pump.

"There have been many examples of selfless sacrifice," said Brosseau. People who have homes with wood stoves welcomed the less fortunate and provided for them. Some took in as many as 20 people.

Quebec's Mennonite churches collected $1,600 for victims of the ice storm and donated the money to the Baptist churches in Granby and St-Hyacinthe for their relief efforts. Donations are flowing in from other provinces as well. MCC Saskatchewan recently forwarded $2,000.

"The people here deeply appreciate the help they're getting, and the messages of concern," said Brosseau. Meanwhile, Russ and Millie Shearer, retired contractors from Wiarton, Ont., have volunteered to coordinate the MDS response in eastern Ontario for the near future. They are working closely with provincial and municipal officials and have identified about 60 homes in the rural area belonging to elderly people who are unable to clean up the debris to make their homes safe.

"Clean-up crews with experienced chain saw operators with their own equipment will be required for the next few weeks," said Dave Worth, director of MCC Ontario. "Volunteers should know, though, that it's hard physical work." More requests for help are coming in as word spreads that MDS help is available. At this time, it's not known how long crews will be needed, and MDS in Ontario is not requesting out-of-province volunteers.

Local residents have been very supportive. The owners of a campground in the affected area have allowed MDS to set up a base and have provided lodging at no cost. A service station owner is providing gas for the MDS vehicles. A car dealership has provided a truck, and the Free Methodist church in Harrowsmith is providing additional lodging. One of the municipalities is providing food for the workers, and cots.

The MDS crews are doing more than cleanup. "One of the important tasks of any MDS effort it to listen to the people who have been through the disaster," said Worth. "Through our work and our listening, we can let them know that they are not forgotten and that God loves them."

The storm also affected four counties in New York state. MDS has provided 70 generators to dairy farmers there. In Quebec, dairy organizations and provincial milk boads had data on farmers' needs, and helped farmers purchase and transport generators; no such help was available in New York.

MDS is accepting donations to cover the costs of the cleanup operations in Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes and New York.

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