English

Midwest Flood Relief Reaches Waterville

Midwest  |  December 19, 2024
The affected households were very happy to receive present value cards and eco-friendly blankets presented by Tzu Chi volunteers.
On September 28, 2024, Tzu Chi USA’s Midwest Region volunteers in Minnesota hold a flood relief distribution, providing cash cards and eco-friendly blankets for flood survivors. Photo/Chih-Lin Chi

Written by Yi-Ting Wang and Tzu-Ying Pan
Translated by H.B. Qin
Edited by Adriana DiBenedetto

In the summer of 2024, floods surged through parts of Minnesota following several rounds of thunderstorms, leaving cities like Waterville awash in murky water, and causing many homes to become uninhabitable. Bounding into action, Tzu Chi USA’s Midwest Region volunteers prepared for assessment and relief, holding a disaster relief distribution on September 28, 2024, in Waterville, Minnesota. The relief event provided affected households with cash cards loaded with funds and eco-friendly blankets from DA.AI Technology, bringing love and warmth to survivors.

A Devastating Flood Inundates Homes

Following the mid-June floods, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency in Waterville, activating the National Guard to aid the city’s local residents. Tzu Chi volunteers in Minnesota quickly proceeded to the area to survey the disaster, collect information at the Multi-Agencies Resource Center (MARC), and listen to the voices of the survivors. Tzu Chi volunteers were also invited by the Minnesota National Volunteer Organization for Emergency Disaster Relief (MNVOAD) to provide vegetarian meals to the survivors and various relief organizations in the community. 

A Sincere Heart and Attentive Ear

Although the local government and humanitarian organizations have quickly launched relief operations, many affected families still face the challenges of rebuilding their lives. The road to recovery is often long and winding, and even if some survivors have property insurance, moving forward can feel slow as survivors patiently await insurance claim payouts.

Following the completion of the disaster assessment process, Tzu-Ying Pan, head of Tzu Chi USA’s Minnesota Office, and Tzu Chi Minnesota volunteers proceeded to Waterville to carry out a relief distribution on September 28, bringing timely warmth and care to the affected families.

At 11:00 AM, local flood survivors arrived at the distribution site one after another. Tzu Chi volunteers Chingchun Deng, Juihsin Liu, Menglung Liu, and Shihfei Chi welcomed survivors and guided them through the check-in process. Once the distribution event had officially begun, Tzu Chi volunteers presented each household with a $500 cash card, an eco-blanket from DA.AI Technology, and a heartfelt letter from Tzu Chi’s founder, Dharma Master Cheng Yen. At each table, volunteers learned about their current situation, listening carefully to survivors’ needs.

A Cash Card Encompasses the Love of Many

Tzu Chi volunteer and pastor and director of the non-profit organization The Village in Waterville
Tzu Chi volunteers Chiente Kuo (first left), Chiang Chu (second left), Yenchuan Kang (first right), Tzu-Ying Pan, head of Tzu Chi USA’s Minnesota Office (second right), and Harold Youtzy, pastor and Executive Director of The Village non-profit organization in Waterville (middle) gather for a photo. Photo/Tzu Chi USA Minnesota Office
Volunteers from Tzu Chi Minnesota Office took a group photo after the flood relief distribution event in the south
Tzu Chi USA Minnesota Office volunteers take a group photo on September 28, 2024, after the flood distribution in southern Minnesota. Photo/Jason Lee

Upon learning that Tzu Chi’s cash cards are made possible with donations from people across the nation and around the globe, survivors were truly touched. The eco-blankets offered, too, contain the love of Tzu Chi’s environmental volunteers who reclaim PET plastics from the environment to be transformed with DA.AI’s innovative technology.

“The floods at the end of June flooded the basement of our house, as well as the kitchen and living room, and we are still unable to use the kitchen,” shared a survivor named Yuliana Guerrero. “My house is an hour and a half away, but I had to come to collect the cash card because this money is very important to us, and nowadays, the prices are skyrocketing.”

Another survivor, Richard Gorell, said, “I have never heard of Tzu Chi before, but today’s help has given me a deep impression of Tzu Chi. We’re now living in this temporary shelter. Rebuilding will cost at least $90,000. Although the insurance company has agreed to settle the claim for $70,000, we have not yet received any payment.”

In June, most of the humanitarian organizations had already withdrawn, and now we can only rely on the help of our family and friends to make ends meet. I am really thrilled to be able to receive Tzu Chi’s assistance.

Volunteers introduce Tzu Chi magazines and Bamboo Bank stories to disaster-stricken households
Tzu Chi volunteers introduce Tzu Chi journals and the uplifting story of Tzu Chi’s bamboo banks to affected households. Pictured from left to right are volunteers Karen Li, Tzu-Ying Pan, and Hsihe Tao. Photo/Chih-Lin Chi
Tzu Chi volunteers watch a video of Master Cheng Yen talking about his years in Bamboo Banks
At the distribution site, a video of Dharma Master Cheng Yen tells the story of the bamboo bank’s humble origin. Photo/Jason Lee

During the distribution process, the volunteers also introduced Tzu Chi’s mission, how Dharma Master Cheng Yen founded Tzu Chi, and the origin of Tzu Chi’s bamboo banks, which moved survivors’ hearts and illuminated the Tzu Chi spirit of relief. Some survivors actively took bamboo banks of their own to fill little by little, desiring to help others.

Tzu Chi’s distribution not only lifted the hearts of Waterville’s disaster survivors, but inspired hope for the future and in one another.

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