Mennonites lend hand in flood-ravaged B.C. town

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This article was published 09/12/2021 (1750 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PRINCETON, B.C. — Mennonite volunteers are pitching in to clean up the muck and debris in the aftermath of flooding in Princeton, B.C.

Spencer Coyne, mayor of the town a three-hour drive east of Vancouver, said help from the Mennonite Disaster Service Canada is more than welcome.

“When I see the MDS trucks driving around town, I smile,” Coyne said.

People in the town “are so exhausted,” he said. But now when he talks to people, “I see a glimmer of hope in their eyes.”

The community in the Southern Interior was hard-hit by a wall of flooding in mid-November.

The first 16 Mennonite volunteers from Manitoba, B.C., and Alberta arrived on Dec. 5. They are spending a week helping residents pump out water, muck out basements, dispose of damaged items and prepare homes for rebuilding.

The group included three volunteers from Manitoba: Alvin Klassen, Denis Sabourin and Denis Jobin.

Klassen, who retired from the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service five years ago, said serving with the service is a chance to help others and see other parts of the country.

“I did (this) in Texas in 2019 and had such a good time,” the member of Kilcona Alliance Church said. “I told myself I’d do it again if the opportunity came along.”

As a bonus, “I get to go to interesting places and meet other volunteers and homeowners,” Klassen 63, said.

Jobin, 67, is a self-employed painter who attends the Meeting Place, a Mennonite Brethren congregation in downtown Winnipeg.

Due to COVID, the longtime volunteer couldn’t serve because most of the projects in Canada were shut down. Canadians also couldn’t get into the U.S. to serve.

“I had a pent-up need to do something,” Jobin said of why he decided to go to Princeton.

Sabourin, 66, said it’s his 15th time with the disaster service.

“I’ve always loved giving back,” said the semi-retired cartographer, who is facilities manager at the Meeting Place.

Through the disaster service, “I found what I was looking for in helping people, plus an opportunity to travel.”

Sitting in his office, Coyne, 43, lists the challenges in the town: the water is still unsafe to drink, the sewage system isn’t fully working, they are still working on the natural gas supply, and snow clearing is slow since the town lost some of its equipment to the water.

“I’m trying to help keep people’s spirits high,” he said, “there’s a long road to recovery ahead.”

He’s grateful for the work of Princeton Baptist Church, which has become the hub for recovery efforts.

“We’ve leaned on them pretty hard,” said Coyne. “Honest to God, I don’t know where we’d be without that church.”

For pastor Kyle Nichols, 36, it’s just what a church is supposed to do.

“We told the town we would do whatever we could do to help,” he said.

Today his church is the town’s main food bank, used clothing depot, firewood distribution centre and volunteer clearing house.

It’s also the place to go for clean water; a water truck and pallets of bottled water are stationed in the parking lot.

“Lots of the people who use the food bank were affected by the flooding,” Nichols said.

The church, located on a hill above the town, is the only one that’s still fully operational in Princeton.

The combined United/Anglican Church closed in summer, and the Roman Catholic and the Living Water Four Square churches were both flooded.

The town’s Pentecostal church didn’t flood, but its pastor died of COVID-19 a week ago.

“We are just happy to help,” said Nichols of his congregation, part of the Fellowship Baptist Church denomination. “This is a time for the church to come alongside the community and serve them and give a message of hope.”

The church is also home base for the Mennonite Disaster Service, a Winnipeg-based organization that uses volunteers to help people recover from natural disasters in North America.

Coyne knows a lot of work must be done.

“There’s a long road to rebuilding,” he said. “We are a small town, we know each other, we help each other. At the end of the day, we are all family. And any volunteers who come can be part of our family, too.”

People interested in volunteering or donating can visit www.mds.org.

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