Help transform downed logs into sheds for survivors.

Volunteer in Central California

You’re invited to volunteer with MDS to help build storage sheds for survivors of the 2020 Creek Fire in Central California.

In partnership with the Creek Fire Collaborative (the local committee leading recovery efforts) the California Unit is sending volunteers to help salvage downed trees and create essential storage units for fire survivors.

In Fall of 2020, the Creek Fire burned nearly 380,000 acres in Fresno and Madera Counties affecting communities of Big Creek, Huntington and Shaver Lake and surrounding mountain and foothill residents.

Pictured above: Steve Bell, in red shirt, learns about a portable mill from a local volunteer.

THE CREEK FIRE SHED PROJECT

A group of local residents are banding together with portable saw mills to mill downed logs into lumber to build 10’x12’ tool sheds or 6’x8’ pump houses.

WHAT CAN VOLUNTEERS DO TO HELP?

1. Milling Day will be Saturday, September 11. Volunteers will help the millers pull lumber off the line and bundle the cut lumber into shed “kits” which residents can pick up to build their own sheds.

2. Some “kits” will be delivered to survivors’ property where volunteers will construct sheds or pump houses for owners who are unable to build their own.

3. Construction students at Fresno City College and Duncan Polytechnic High School will prefab shed frames and deliver to the sites where volunteers are needed to erect the prefabbed structures.

4. Volunteers are also needed to construct pole barns from the salvaged lumber. The barns will cover trailers housing fire survivors.

Above, volunteers prepare to pour a foundation for Cheryle's home near Paradise.

Click here to read how Cheryle's story impacted MDS volunteer Robert Unruh.

Building is Underway

in Paradise

Thank you for your prayers for Paradise. Work is now underway at four project sites, including this home for Cheryle who has been "making do" in a travel trailer for more than two years.

The Paradise project will close for the month of August with weekly volunteers starting up again in September. Cooks are especially needed this fall.

To sign up contact Josh at jcarson@mds.org or call him at 800-241-8111.

Mark Your Calendar for our

California Unit

Annual Meeting

Saturday, October 9

Upland

Brethren in Christ Church

845 W. Arrow Hwy. Upland, CA 91786

In Memory

Richard Unruh, California MDS Unit's Board Secretary, passed away May 7 after a battle with cancer.

Richard , who was 76, was faculty emeritus at Fresno Pacific University in political science. He is survived by his wife Pat daughter and son-in-law Elizabeth and Ben and two grandchildren.

The board will miss Richard's meticulous minutes, his insightful questions and his ability to use his secretarial role to guide the board into clear and comprehensive decisions.