Canadians are among those watching horrifying television images of Hurricane Katrina's appalling aftermath and wondering what they can do to help. Over the weeks, months and years to come, a variety of organizations will work to rebuild lives and homes, and among them will be one unique group -- the Mennonite Disaster Service.

Canadian organizers with the non-profit Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), based out of the Extension office in Winnipeg, Manitoba, have already mobilized and are preparing to join forces with their Akron, Pennsylvania MDS counterpart, the Red Cross and other key disaster relief agencies.

Devastating floods have been part of Canada's history and continue periodically to lay waste to water-side communities. Severe floods on Manitoba's Red River in the '50s were part of the impetus for creating a binational grass-roots organization to support those who have lived through disaster, but may have been abandoned by insurance companies, governments and even their community.

"We kept to two countries and we're fairly small with a staff of 8 people -- 2 in Canada," said Lois Nickel, Administrative Coordinator, based in Winnipeg. "The rest of the entire MDS network is volunteers. Each state and province have a group of volunteers on a Board and MDS representatives in every Mennonite Church."

Canadian victims of floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and forest fires have been helped by the extensive MDS network of volunteers. The Mennonite , Brethren in Christ and related Anabaptist constituent churches respond through MDS as an expansion of generations of mutual aid practiced by Mennonites and Amish. Assistance focuses on post-disaster cleanup, repair and rebuilding operations.

Recent Canadian donation-financed MDS efforts include:

• Response to flooding in Alberta where volunteers cleaned out damaged basements

• Support in Altona, Brandon and town after town along Manitoba's Red River where volunteers chain-sawed downed trees and cleaned out wet basements ruined by sewage

• Volunteering by over 2000 individuals this summer after tornados and high winds hit Southern Ontario and help was required in the massive clean up and replacement of two large barns.

• Rebuilding after floods hit Peterborough last summer

• Completion of the year-long restoration of Barriere , British Columbia, a small community devastated by forest fire.

MDS does not always launch a massive effort. Volunteers will respond to a call from a single family or individual in need, someone under insured, not insured or without family to lend a hand. Special emphasis is placed on helping those least able to help themselves including single parents, the elderly and those with disabilities. This summer, one call came from a family in Saskatchewan and another from a widow in Ontario who needed help repairing damage from high winds. Requests may come from any corner of Canada, but very few calls for aid come from Mennonites, probably because their communities consistently support themselves.

Surprisingly, Nickel is cautious about calling for Hurricane Katrina volunteers.

"In our Hurricane Andrew project, we had 7,000 volunteers over two years, but we cannot handle 7,000 volunteers tomorrow," said Nickel explaining how, as a small organization working on long-term projects, they need a steady flow of volunteers, not an overnight army. "Right now, the best help is donations. We collect money that is turned into free labour."

Volunteers work for one to three weeks with a leadership team of 8 to 10 people who each commit to working for two to eight months. The majority of volunteers are Mennonites and tend to be retirees or youths between jobs or school, but everyone is welcome.

MDS describes the people who join their teams this way: "You do not need to have any specialized skills prior to working with MDS. Your open mind and dedicated spirit will enable you to learn as you go. You may become involved with a variety of tasks including clean up, carpentry, food preparation, and crew leadership. MDS volunteers are known for repairing and rebuilding homes damaged by disasters. But it takes more than construction skills to serve with MDS ... MDS also restores lives. The homes that MDS repairs are owned by people. They laugh and they cry. They have good days and they have bad days. They share your basic needs as a person."

About the Katrina operation, Nickel says: "Our gift to the disaster response efforts is recovery and we are there for the long haul. We come in after the first few days and do cleanup, then repair homes and build brand new homes. We will be there 2 to 3 years."