
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 14, 1993                   TAG: 9308140079
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PETERSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

SIMPLE LIVES GROW RICHER HELPING VICTIMS

Simple lives grow richer helping victims of disaster AP Steve Yoder (left) of the Mennonite Disaster Service helps Hilton Wood repair a roof damaged by the tornado that struck Pocahontas Island on Aug. 6. A tornado peeled the roof off Virginia Jones' home in Pocahontas Island. But this week, volunteers climbed atop the house and began hammering the roof back on.

These workers were 18 Mennonites from Stuarts Draft. The group - the Upper Shenandoah Valley Mennonite Disaster Service - visited the historic black community on Wednesday to cut up fallen tree limbs, clear debris and make repairs.

"Whenever it's a disaster, we go," said Hershel Bridge, the group's coordinator. "As Christians, we're obligated to do it. It's just our way of life."

About 50 of the 60 homes in the community were damaged by the tornado, which packed winds of about 200 mph when it struck Petersburg's Old Towne and Pocahontas Island. The same tornado killed three people at a Wal-Mart in Colonial Heights and a construction worker in Prince George County. Nearly 200 people were injured.

Without the volunteers' help, Jones said, she probably would have had to wait a while before her roof could be repaired. "It would have been a slow process waiting for insurance and things," said Jones, who has been staying with friends.

Bridge's group, which includes children, said it would return next weekend.

More Mennonites from Harrisonburg and Waynesboro are expected to arrive today and Monday to continue working, Bridge said.

"We'll be here until we get the tops on these houses," he said. "I don't know how long it's going to be."

by CNB