Saturday, March 19, 2011 – Eight of us left Franconia Mennonite Church at 6:00 AM. John & Dorothy Frederick, Gary Grant, Susan Landis, Eric Raifsnider, Dan Freed and Dennis and Glenda Gehman – all from Covenant Community Fellowship in Lansdale, PA. We were headed for Pass Christian, Mississippi to volunteer with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) helping to rebuild from hurricane Katrina which happened in August 2005. Around 3:00 PM, in southern Virginia, the van shut off while Gary was driving. We pulled off to the side of the road at mile marker 41.3 on Route 81, South. The van would turn over, but wouldn’t start. Dennis called “AAA” for a tow truck. Dan Freed made some calls back to PA to let the MDS leaders know what was happening. Dan also talked with Ray Freed from Covenant who is a mechanic. Ray suspected that it was the fuel pump. AAA sent 2 taxi cabs to take everyone, but Dan and I, to the garage where the van would be towed. Dan and I waited for the tow truck to come. Roger’s Towing came with a nice rollback to load up the van. He also had a hitch to pull the trailer. Smith’s Garage, in Marion, VA, put the van up on a lift while we walked to find supper at a local restaurant. We barely got into the restaurant when the garage called saying it was the fuel pump. We told them to fix it and by the time we were finished eating they called and said it was finished. We were back on the road in 4 hours from when the van shut down. We decided to drive a few more hours into the middle of Tennessee, where we stopped for the night at a motel.
– Dennis Gehman
Next Time… “Volunteering…Day 2 – MDS, Pass Christian, MS
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