MDS volunteers rebuilding homes in the Monte Lake and Six Mile Creek area off Westside Road. Mennonite Disaster Services will work to rebuild four Lake Monte area homes that were lost in the 2021 wildfire season. Mennonite Disaster Services has set up shop at Westwold Community Hall. Roman Heuft, Monte Lake MDS project manager said they have set up temporary bunks in Westwold for volunteers to stay in while they work on the project. “Right now I think we have about 16 people there now. Last week we had almost 30,” Heuft said. “We’re rebuilding homes for people who are underinsured or uninsured and qualify for minimum incomes, that kind of thing.” According to Heuft, volunteers are currently focusing on four homes for this year. Three of the homes are in Monte Lake while one is in the West Six Mile Creek area. Because of the location of the four houses, Heuft said they chose Westwold to set up camp. He said they are only focusing on four at the moment due to limited facilities. Homeowners do not have to be Mennonite to apply for MDS assistance, Heuft said, “They don’t even have to be Christians. We respond with the love of our Lord Jesus says to anyone who asked for help,” he told Castanet Kamloops. Heuft said the project intends to complete the four houses, but their accommodations rely on Mother Nature. “[We’ll be here] until the snow chases us away. So we actually have shower trailers set up outside and we’ve basically set up an RV camp on the property,” he said. “So that’s kind of limited when the freeze comes — we intend to be able to get all the work done, but that’s going to be our timing factor.” The volunteers aren’t solely there to rebuild homes, the project manager said MDS volunteers have helped with other emergency responses needed by the community. “We had this big storm last week and a call came in for help to make sandbags, so the team immediately went and made sandbags,” he said. “A couple of lorries full of sand got together and bagged it all up – they were filling it faster than the lorries could get it where it needed to go. So it’s an amazing team we had last week and they were valuable.” Heuft said the community has been very welcoming. “The community has responded amazingly,” he said. Heuft said the MDS team will host a meeting at the Westwold Community Hall to introduce themselves to the community. “We have a community that gathers at Westwold Hall. Just to let them know who we are and that we’re here to help,” Heuft said.
