Volunteers from Lincoln Park Join Others on Mission Trip to North Carolina

From Pastor Dave McMillan

Updated June 30, 2017

During the week of June 4–10, seven volunteers, including four from Lincoln Park, traveled to the United Methodist Disaster Response Center in Tarboro, North Carolina. Pastor Dave, Todd Beamesderfer, Dave Gehr, and Sue Race joined others there, working on 800 homes badly damaged by hurricanes of the past two years.

The United Methodist Church has committed two years to disaster relief in the Tarboro area. It also hopes to raise $15,000 for this cause, to match funds appropriated there by FEMA.

The “modest” homes there have been raised off the ground now, about three feet, but they have no walls or flooring, says Pastor Dave. “Our work — in the town of Princeville — included laying subflooring, dry walling, and putting in a kitchen. We got a lot done in a week. We met the families whose homes we worked on; it was meaningful.” Homeowners had little warning before evacuating for Hurricane Matthew, so they took little with them, and three weeks went by before they were allowed back into their homes.

The “quaint” town of Princeville was founded in 1865, the first town in America founded by freed slaves. “There’s a lot of Civil War history there,” says Dave.