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So with "virtually no place for volunteers to come and help with projects, no place where we all can meet," the disaster-relief organization is making plans for a new, larger site.
MDS held a dedication ceremony on Nov. 19 for a new office and warehouse location at 583 Airport Road, Lititz.
The new Manheim Township site will be a 14,700-square-foot facility that will include office space and a multipurpose room for groups of up to 165 volunteers to meet for leadership training and debriefings.
There also will be flexible space where up to 25 volunteers can coordinate responses to major disasters and also sufficient office space for staff and work stations.
The new headquarters also will include a 6,000-square-foot warehouse that will be used to build panel houses and to store vehicles, tool trailers, tools and emergency supplies for major disasters.
MDS hopes to start construction on the new headquarters by the end of the year, and to have it completed by next summer.
No cost for the new facility was given.
Since Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, says MDS Executive Director Kevin King, "The number of people wanting to volunteer and help in these and other areas impacted by disaster has only increased.
"Each year we send anywhere from 5,000 to over 6,600 volunteers, depending on the availability of volunteer leadership" to coordinate the volunteer efforts and the availability "of meaningful work and funding," King says.
Just since Katrina in August 2005, the number of families MDS serves each year has more than doubled, from 280 to 760.
As MDS leadership considers the future, "it has become evident that a new headquarters is needed," its communications director, Scott Sundberg, adds.
The current Akron headquarters, at 1018 Main St., is a former post office and apartments.
Even with only 10 full-time and three part-time employees there, the site lacks adequate space to meet all MDS needs, its officials say.
What became MDS began in 1950 as a joint effort of two Sunday school classes. It has since grown to having nearly 6,000 volunteers annually.
The construction start at the new headquarters could be delayed until January, and "our desire is to use as much volunteer labor from our constituents as possible," Sundberg adds.
The final goal at the new headquarters, which also is near Lancaster Airport, will be to "equip staff to equip leaders, who in turn equip projects by deploying volunteers, leading to restored hope for families and communities," says the MDS board chairman, Rocky Miller.
