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Mennonite Disaster Service receives $400K to help with B.C. flood recovery

Three grants are goingt towards projects in Fraser Valley and Princeton
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Mennonite Disaster Service volunteers Mark Rempel, Shirley Gotzke and Fred Rempel work on repairs at a Fraser Valley home. (Submitted photo)

Three grants worth $400,000 will enable Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada to help homeowners affected by last November’s floods in B.C.

A grant of $210,000 was given by Fraserway RV in Abbotsford, through its Adventurer Foundation, to assist with repair and reconstruction efforts in the Fraser Valley.

A grant of $100,000 was provided by the Abbotsford Community Foundation (ACF) – with its partners the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce and University of the Fraser Valley – to help MDS repair four homes in the Fraser Valley. The three groups started the Abbotsford Disaster Relief Fund (ADRF) following the floods.

Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) provided the remaining $90,000.

Fraserway RV CEO James Epp said the company appreciates the work being done by MDS and is “glad to attach our support and encourage the support of others.”

ACF executive director Wendy Neufeld said the goal of the ADRF has been to provide funding to those most affected “in an effort to bring wholeness and recovery to the lives that have been impacted.”

RELATED: Abbotsford Disaster Relief Fund continues to help community rebuild from flooding

“The work of MDS accomplishes that goal with a ‘boots on the ground’ approach that will provide options to families who, otherwise, would not have had good paths forward,” she said.

CLWR executive director Karin Achtelstetter said the agency is happy to partner with MDS.

“MDS has a breadth and depth of experience in disaster response in the Canadian context, so it was only logical for us to work with them again,” she said.

Ross Penner, director of Canadian operations for MDS, said the grants from the three organizations are gratefully received.

“We are thankful for this support, which will help us to help people impacted by the floods in B.C. to get back home. These grants will go a long way toward enabling us to achieve that goal,” he said.

MDS Canada is working in the Fraser Valley, where six homes are being repaired, and in Princeton, where over 40 homes have been worked on.

Recovery work in B.C. is being done jointly by MDS Canada and Mennonite Central Committee B.C., which entered into a partnership agreement to respond to the floods that hit B.C. last November.

RELATED: Lower Mainland Mennonite group helps Princeton flood victims rebuild