Volunteer Groups Continue To Offer Assistance To Flood Victims

Now more than 3 weeks after the Father’s Day Flood wiped out roadways and damaged homes in the area, a new phase of reconstruction begins and homeowners who will be accepting volunteer help are advised to check credentials before allowing anyone into their home that they are not familiar with.

“We are a service group that’s coming from Keweenaw Base Camp. We are based right outside of Atlantic Mine. We’re just out here helping the community in anyway we can,” said James Kirk of the Keweenaw Base Camp, who’s leading a team of youth group members that spend every day doing whatever is asked of them as they tackle one project at a time.

Kirk said, “Right now, we’re helping dig out a septic system and then also there’s a bit of wash out that we have from the flood. We’re just clearing debris from that.”

Many of the members of Kirk’s team have come here for the summer from out of the area.  “We’re from St. James Lutheran church in St. Paul, Minnesota and we’ve got 16 that came with us to the UP to help out Keweenaw Base Camp and they’ve got all the projects for us to do whatever we can do to be a blessing to other people,” said Youth Director, Terese Thune, who is accompanying the group.

They were deployed by the Volunteer Resource Center, who oversees these projects and makes sure that every volunteer passes a basic background check before gaining access to a flood victim’s home.

“The role of the VRC is primarily just coordinating. First, knowing what needs to be done in the community, and then also helping to then coordinate getting crews out to work and get things done in the community,” said Ian Pope of the Great Lakes Conservation Corps, that is operating the VRC.

As rebuilding moves into a new phase, many volunteers will be going door to door offering assistance. It’s important for homeowners to know that they will be wearing ID badges and have been properly screened before going into the field.

Pope said, “We have ID badges from Houghton County just to kind of let homeowners know that this is from the VRC. These people, they’re working with us, they’re working for us. So we do a background check through Icheck with the state police just to make sure that everything is good. After that background check, then we do a safety briefing. We give them an idea of what’s going on for the day, what to be aware of, and then get them on their way.”

Those interested in becoming a volunteer are asked to contact the VRC at 233- 6621.

Kirk said, “We’ll be having projects coming up all the way through the month of July. If you have anything that needs help, feel free to report it to the disaster relief right outside of JC Penney.”