Volunteers are needed to help residents in far southwest Iowa restore their homes and lives after this summer’s Missouri River flood. Shari Bowen, spokeswoman for the Mills County emergency management office, says they’re holding clean-up events beginning on Friday.
“We are going to be starting with a brief orientation at 8:30 in the morning and then we will be sending crews out to multiple locations in the western part of Mills County,” Bowen says.
“We will be working with some folks who need some things moved and need some things cleaned out.” Bowen says those who cannot physically help can still be of service this weekend, especially if they have computer skills.
“We’re also looking for a few volunteers to help us at the Glenwood Library on Saturday morning,” Bowen says. “They would need to be prepared to assist people to log on into FEMA on the computer and get them through the process of signing up in the FEMA Individual Disaster Assistance area.”
Bowen says they’re working with the United Methodist Disaster Response Group which put the call out to its members. “We are hoping that will bring us a significant number of volunteers but we need those local folks as well,” she says. “Right now, we don’t know what to expect. We have lots of families who have needs. We honestly don’t know how many we will be able to serve. That depends on how many people come out to help those days.”
If you can lend a hand, call (712) 527-4231 to register. Those with pickup trucks and trailers are also asked to bring those to help in the clean-up.