Disaster Mennonite Service Volunteer Spotlight

From FEMA's social media series on volunteers (Photo courtesy of Disaster Mennonite Service):

We’re celebrating National Volunteer Week by highlighting volunteers from across the U.S. and the contributions they make during disasters. Here’s Peter’s experience volunteering with @MennoniteDisasterService:

“It is humbling when you realize that the construction of the bridge can save someone’s life…”

Peter builds bridges, but he doesn’t do it for money. As the director of the bridge building program for the Mennonite Disaster Service, he is currently coordinating crews of volunteers to construct private access bridges previously destroyed or damaged by the flooding in southwestern West Virginia in 2015.

“The bridge is a lifeline for most of them… like the gentleman in Lincoln County who were it not for his newly constructed bridge, the EMS folks would not have been able to reach him in time when he had a heart attack. This happened only a day after the bridge was completed.”

Since December of 2015, Mennonite Disaster Service has completed 29 bridges; the latest was a 53-foot span built for 93-year-old Betty Miller (see photo). More on the organization here: https://mds.mennonite.net/?sc=logo