Huntington, Ind. — Disaster relief doesn’t always mean traveling thousands of miles to places ravaged by hurricanes or earthquakes. Sometimes that relief is needed right in your backyard.
In fall 2008, Munster, Ind., and other northwest Indiana communities were greatly affected by a flood that damaged more than 18,000 homes and businesses. Some were lucky, regaining their homes within a matter of weeks – others were not.
A group of eight Huntington University students and one staff adviser will be traveling to Munster from Oct. 15 to Oct 19 during fall break to rebuild and tear down houses that were greatly affected by the flooding. The team will be working with LARRI (Lakeshore Area Regional Recovery of Indiana), a local relief organization, as well as ArcBridges to do some site maintenance to its building as well as a few other residential buildings.
“We are going on this trip because it is important to serve God and serve others through service,” said Zach Keller, a junior math and math education double major from Portland, Ind. “The Munster area is still in need of clean up, and we are very excited to be able to help with that.”
The trip is sponsored by Huntington University’s Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service.
The following students will be attending the mission trip:
Zach Keller, a junior math and math education double major from Portland, Ind.
Alex Lute, a senior elementary special education major from Dyer, Ind.
Miles Allen, a junior film production major from Roscoe, Ill.
Liz Smith, a sophomore psychology and sociology major from Berne, Ind.
Jacob Smith, a freshman choral education major from Berne, Ind.
Karen Bollenbacher, a freshman chemistry major from Berne, Ind.
Bobby Shultz, a senior youth ministries major from Bluffton, Ind.
Lauren Powers, a junior psychology major from Lansing, Ill.