FLASHBACK TO 1948
1950 Red River Flood impact in the Elm Park neighborhood of Winnipeg, Manitoba. PHOTO: ARCHIVES OF MANITOBA
1997 Red River Flood damage to a rural home and property in southern Manitoba.
“ One of the reasons I stayed involved ... is because MDS was open to everybody.”
flood of the century hit his home province. While C.N. and his wife Laura Friesen had moved to British Columbia a few decades earlier, they were visiting friends and family in Manitoba during the 1997
stronger MDS presence within Canada, new interagency partnerships and the opening of a Winnipeg office in 2001. Gord’s volunteer tenure with MDS continued for a total of 15 years, including leadership roles on the Canadian and binational boards, and as a mentor to the first permanent staff person in Canada. C.N. remained an active volunteer with MDS, helping office staff with administrative duties in the latter years, before his passing in 2010. “As long as we have disasters—and I don’t think they will stop... I think we should be better prepared and continue to prepare people and to make it exciting,” he said in a 2008 interview. At the organization’s 75th anniversary, Gord shared, “One of the reasons I stayed involved… is because MDS was open to everybody… It was very open to belief systems and also to skill levels and, so, I hope that it continues to be open to all in both areas, as long as they want to help others for the right reason, and that, regardless of skill.” STORY: NIKKI HAMM GWALA. WITH CONTENT FROM A 2008 INTERVIEW OF C.N. FRIESEN BY BRUCE HILDEBRAND AND A 2024 INTERVIEW OF GORD FRIESEN BY GLORIA NUSSBAUM. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF GORD FRIESEN, MARJ HEINRICHS, ARCHIVES OF MANITOBA
GORD FRIESEN MDS VOLUNTEER
Gord Friesen (left) with his father C.N. Friesen circa 1975
flood. C.N. joined other MDS leaders to plan a response. After their initial meeting, he encouraged Gord to get involved, with his skill set and newly open calendar in mind. “You can do something here,” C.N. said. His father’s influence led Gord to ride along with a volunteer doing street assessments and eventually commit to coordinating a three-year-long flood response, the largest MDS had taken on in Canada. Over a three-year span, MDS cleaned up 802 houses and yards, rebuilt 13 houses and repaired another 99, contributing a total of 14,687 volunteer days, and received unprecedented funding from donors and the Government of Manitoba. “There was nobody else then who thought it was their mandate to respond,” explained Gord. “It was such a tremendous job,” said C.N. “We became very well known during that time.” The response led to a
Family and MDS legacies intertwine
of Mennonites in Canada. They responded as the Mennonitische Hilfswerk, a predecessor to MDS in Canada. Two short years later, they responded to the historic Red River flood of 1950. During that flood, the Government of Manitoba reports that 100,000 Winnipeg residents or one third of the city was evacuated. It was the largest evacuation in Canadian history to that date. C.N. coordinated the Mennonitische Hilfswerk response, organizing temporary housing for evacuees. Gord was born in 1947. During his childhood, his father provided leadership to local disaster responses. He also played a leading role as Mennonite organizers across the country came together to formally join the U.S.-borne MDS organization in 1956. While C.N. instilled a keen interest in carpentry, Gord had very little involvement with MDS growing up—besides a hands-on introduction through a one-day tornado cleanup assignment at age 13. Gord didn’t volunteer with MDS over the following three decades. He dedicated 25 years to a corporate career in human resources and labor relations. He resigned in 1997 on his fiftieth birthday. Gord didn’t think of his resignation as an early retirement but planned to find meaningful volunteer work after a few months break. His plan to rest was upended, though, when the Red River
Father and son share experiences pivotal to MDS Canada’s development
“It was his orientation. He was always helping.” Gord Friesen reflected on his father Cornelius (C.N.) Friesen’s volunteer history with MDS, a commitment that spanned more than a half-century. C.N.’s personal story closely mirrors the larger story of MDS’ origins in Canada. Like many other young Anabaptist men during World War II, he volunteered as a conscientious objector. A few years after the war, he responded to the 1948 Red River flood, sandbagging in Rosenort, Manitoba, alongside other Mennonite volunteers. The 1948 Red River flood response is the first documented disaster response by an organized group
MDS volunteer crew in La Riviere, Manitoba, circa 1960. C.N. Friesen (front center, with hat) and Gord (front second to right)
Gord Friesen on assignment during the ‘97 MDS Red River Flood response in Manitoba.
8
9
behind the hammer
behind the hammer
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator