More Volunteers Needed for Upper Midwest Flood Recovery

June 27, 1997: Lori Hein juggles phones and welcomes volunteer work teams who arrive from places like Sheldon,Iowa or North East, Pennsylvania as well from the Dakotas and Minnesota. She supports community agencies and unsnarls bureaucratic snags in her job as Coordinator of Volunteers for Upper Midwest Flood Recovery in Grand Forks.

Over the last six weeks, dozens of volunteers helped with what gritty Red River Valleyites call "the Muckarena," the shovel and disinfectant detail. For many families who can salvage their homes, stripping sodden carpets and ripping sheetrock is behind them. "Now we're getting into cleaning of office and rental property; homes are bad enough but to throw out your livelihood, that's hard," Hein said.

Referrals continue as people contact Upper Midwest Recovery with names of friends or neighbors. Often they also need assistance. "These people could really use help, but they're too proud to contact us. They say, 'I figured I wasn't worse off than anybody else.' Because the damage was so widespread, people feel guilty asking for help when they know that so many need it."

As opportunity for volunteers to work in reconstruction increases, persons skilled in drywall, electrical and plumbing trades are urgently needed. "There's all the work in the world although there's a problem in the administrative end with the number we can coordinate," Hein said. If Hein can't coordinate a volunteer crew on a United Methodist-sponsored project, people who come may work with United Way and other agencies in rebuilding. "We can make those links, too" Hein said.

Charlotte Humphries, a professor at Univeristy of North Dakota, was an office volunteer while Lori and her husband got a bit of R and R in late June. Humphries, who lived on higher ground above the Lincoln Park area where hundreds of homes will be demolished, said she had experienced floods in other regions of the country before moving to Red River valley. "This is different from other floods," she said, describing its widespead damage to so many families and businesses. People are exhausted and we know about the importance of getting help." They become lethargic and almost numb. "Every time I've had help it's kickstarted me back into the doing mode," Humphries said.

Hein emphasized that Red River Valley folks aren't the only people exhausted and economically devastated by the long winter and its terrible aftermath. "People in the region should let Upper Midwest Recovery know if they were affected by the blizzards or flooding and need help." Trash and brush cleanup, fencing, and building repair may overwhelm busy farmers and ranchers in the summer season. "If we have teams that we have to turn down, we want to know where we can send them. They can help out west, too!"

Source: United Methodist News Service.