ROSELAND — Volunteers with the First United Methodist Church in Hastings helped rebuild a garage destroyed by a tornado last year belonging to one of their fellow parishioners.
Several members of the mission and outreach committee went Saturday and Sunday to Justin and Jessica Menke’s home in Roseland to work on the project.
Brian Winfield, a committee member, said the Menkes are members of the church and they wanted to help the family rebuild.
“We want people to realize the First United Methodist Church is here to help our community and the world,” Winfield said. “We’re here to spread God’s love and kindness. Our mission is to look up, build up, reach out and invite in.”
The garage was just one of multiple buildings in Roseland damaged May 6, 2015, when an EF-1 tornado ripped through town. The roof on the Menkes’ home was lifted and needed repair. Another outbuilding on the property was destroyed.
No one was home at the time. Justin was away for work and Jessica was in Hastings getting ready to bring their four kids, ages 3-12, home. Returning home, the family found the damage and started the cleanup process immediately, receiving help from neighboring communities.
The First United Methodist Church held a garage sale to raise money for the family.
“We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped,” Jessica said.
The Menkes were out of their home for about seven months as repairs to the house were made, but they moved back in November 2015.
“It was nice to get back to normal,” Justin said. “The kids love being back.”
Once the house was repaired, they turned their attention to the garage. After the storm, many items ended up in a trailer for storage and they need the garage to have room to sort and organize things.
“It’s getting there, just taking time,” Justin said.
To that end, Peter Hedstrom, another committee member with the church, volunteered to help organize the garage construction. The volunteers worked in small groups on tasks to make the process faster. Insurance money bought the supplies but volunteers from the church constructed the project.
Hedstrom is used to projects like this. He oversaw the construction of five houses with Habitat for Humanity. He has helped build homes for himself and his children.
“This is what I do for fun,” he said. “There’s a lot of satisfaction for me in doing this. It’s even nicer when you can help out a member of the church.”
BY:Will Vraspir
