By MEredith Knight
If you’ve ever been affected by a natural disaster, you understand how your life can change in a matter of minutes. You may have also experienced the difference the kindness of strangers can have on your circumstances, your outlook, and your faith in your fellow man. Thanks to Minuteman Disaster Response (MDR), thousands of families and dozens of communities have experienced the love, support, and light at the end of the tunnel that can come when neighbor helps neighbor — even if those “neighbors” are from states away.
It all began in 2011 when an EF5 tornado devastated the town of Joplin, Missouri, and a handful of men traveled from North Texas to Joplin to deliver supplies and clothing they’d collected from their North Texas neighbors. They were stunned by the utter devastation and overwhelming cries for help they found in Joplin. This community needed so much more than the few items they had in their trailer. They needed manpower.
The men left with a desire to create an organization that could conduct search and rescue operations, help clear debris, and meet the many other needs they saw. That desire found form in the nonprofit Minuteman Disaster Response, a volunteer organization that helps bring hope in the immediate aftermath of disasters by deploying volunteers who are trained, equipped, and ready to serve.
Minuteman now monitors storm forecasts and prepares teams to deploy as soon as they are needed. When a call comes, they utilize the National Incident Management System (NIMS), a standardized approach developed by the United States Department of Homeland Security to facilitate coordination by all levels of responders.
Minuteman Disaster Response volunteers are trained in many areas of disaster relief, including debris cleanup, resource management, first aid, chainsaw operations, and heavy equipment operations. They serve with no cost to the community, and they arrive completely self-sufficient with their own mobile housing, showers, and food. Once deployed, they work for weeks — even months — to restore the community and minister to the people.
Minuteman volunteers are there before, during, and after disaster strikes to serve communities who need their help the most. But how much help can a bunch of volunteers really bring after a tornado, flood, wildfire, or hurricane? Just ask the folks in Valdosta, Georgia, Salina, Oklahoma, Columbia, Tennessee, or any one of the towns who’ve had their hope renewed and their faith restored by volunteers who surrendered to the call to be God’s hands and feet, right where they were needed most.
For its first 10 years, MDR focused on serving a four-state region, including Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. But starting in 2022, they expanded their volunteer base and service reach, now supporting communities across the United States. MDR now has 763 registered volunteers across 39 states. Just this year 262 Minuteman volunteers responded to 17 disaster events in eight states.
Now it’s your turn to make a difference. You can do that in many ways. You can train to become an MDR volunteer. You can make a tax-deductible donation to the organization with the assurance that MDR operates debt-free without any encumbrance and applies 93% of every donated dollar directly to relief work to ensure the resources provided by donors are used to help those who need them.
And you can plan to attend the upcoming Lamplighter Gala on Saturday, March 29 at Courtyard at the Allen Event Center in Allen. The Lamplighter Gala is the primary source of funding for Minuteman Disaster Response and helps assure they’re ready to help when the next disaster strikes, including training for the growing base of volunteers, tools and equipment as well as facilities to store them, and mobile housing, shower facilities, and meals for deployed volunteers.
The theme for this year’s gala is Fuel the Mission. Attire is boots and bling/Western cocktail. Event organizers are still looking for corporate sponsors, donations of items to be auctioned, and patrons at every level. The evening will include a silent auction and cocktail hour where attendees can hobnob with Minuteman Founders Paul and Judy Pogue, dinner, live music, and a virtual tour through some of the disaster areas where MDR teams have deployed.
“It’s hard for people to understand all we do,” said Paul Pogue, founder and board president. “We can’t take them to the disaster sites. We can’t show them the faces of disaster. But we hope to help them see the help we’re able to provide through interactive stations, photos, videos, and testimonials from those who have been helped by our efforts.
“Nobody ever really expects a disaster to hit their town,” Paul said. “There’s a map on our website showing the communities we’ve been able to help, but it doesn’t show the faces of the fathers, mothers, children, grandparents, neighbors, and friends who have had their world turned upside down and the comfort and hope our teams are able to provide them. We now have more volunteers than ever from all over the country. It’s great to see so many sign up to serve others in a time of need.”
Perhaps Amory, Mississippi, tornado survivor Melissa Strong said it best when she called Minuteman Disaster Response volunteers “just good people who love people.” Find out more and be a part of that love at MinuteManResponse.org.
CONTACT
Minuteman Disaster Response
1512 Bray Central Drive, Suite 200 | McKinney, Texas 75069
(214) 585-2411 | [email protected]
MinuteManResponse.org
To date, Minuteman Disaster Response teams have responded to 43 tornado/wind events, a dozen hurricanes, five floods, and two wildfires in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Vermont, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia.
