Volunteers from across the U.S. help Muncie with flood disaster relief

Muncie is one of five storm-and-flood-damaged locales in Indiana receiving help this month from Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.  The organization has sent volunteers from across the U-S to help Muncie residents help clean up their homes.  IPR’s Daniel Huber reports.

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00;00;00;02 - 00;00;17;24 Daniel Huber At a house off of South Hackley Street in 90 degree heat, volunteers are removing drywall, damaged furniture and treating mold. They are members of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. Volunteers are doing work both in the basement and on the ground floor. I'm trying to get to big sports and they are motivated by God. 00;00;17;27 - 00;00;19;21 Volunteer Well, God is everything to me. 00;00;19;24 - 00;00;28;07 Daniel Huber On the scene, it's site coordinator Danny Stevens. He joined the group when Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi. 21 years later, he is still with the organization. 00;00;28;08 - 00;00;46;24 Danny Stevens So is this very rewarding? And if and I tell people, if you ever come out with us and do a deployment, yeah, you get hot, you get nice. So you see these guys carry water heaters and and, all different things out of here. But if you, if you do it one time, you'll be hooked. I guarantee you. 00;00;47;01 - 00;00;54;19 Daniel Huber The group working on this house have been in Muncie for about a week. This group is composed of members from two states. Stevens is from North Carolina. 00;00;54;25 - 00;00;57;18 Volunteer With the houses we go to, don't have electricity in the basement. 00;00;57;20 - 00;01;08;08 Daniel Huber And Bill LaFollette is from Michigan. He got started when a friend from church, who was previously in the Arkansas chapter, introduced him to the organization. He says they pray for the people of Muncie. 00;01;08;09 - 00;01;18;23 Bill LaFollette Christ told us to love others as ourselves and our neighbors. And the neighbors, like the Good Samaritan, they weren’t in the same religion. They weren’t the same race. It was somebody that was in need. And these are people in need in Muncie. 00;01;18;23 - 00;01;26;15 Daniel Huber Whether they are in the house of the Lord or taking a break, the community they built is on display, united by faith and a mission. 00;01;26;15 - 00;01;27;22 Danny Stevens We are a big family. 00;01;27;28 - 00;01;29;22 Daniel Huber I'm Daniel Huber in Muncie.

At a house off of South Hackley Street, in 90 degree heat, volunteers work to remove drywall paneling, damaged furniture, and treat mold. They are members of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, and they come from all across America.

Volunteers are doing work both in the basement and on the ground floor. This group at this job was composed of members from North Carolina and Michigan.  And they are motivated by God.

On the scene is site coordinator Danny Stevens from North Carolina. He joined the group when Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi. Twenty-one years later, he is still with the organization.

“It’s very rewarding, and I tell people, if you ever come out with us, and do a deployment, yeah, you get hot, you get nasty and you see these guys carrying water heaters and all different things out of here,” Stevens said. “But when you get it, if you do it one time you’ll be hooked, I guarantee.”

Bill LaFollette, who came from Michigan, was outside bagging up moldy dry drywall. He joined the group 15 years ago, when a friend from church who was previously in the Arkansas Baptist State Convention Disaster Relief introduced him to the organization. He said the group prays for the people of Muncie.

“Christ told us to love others as ourselves and our neighbors. And the neighbors, like the Good Samaritan- they weren’t in the same religion. They weren’t the same race. It was somebody that was in need. And these are people in need in Muncie,” LaFollette said.

Whether they are in the house of the Lord, or are taking a break, the community they build is on display, united by faith and a mission. For Stevens, he sees the community as a big family.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief is also helping in Anderson, New Castle, Cambridge City, and Noblesville.

Daniel Huber is a news fellow with Ball State Public Media’s Public Media Accelerator student fellowships.