With many neighbors fleeing the flooding, the Lynden community offers help
Seeing its neighbors in trouble with this flooding, Lynden organizations and its residents have been stepping up.
As it became clear that this would be an extraordinary flooding event for communities in Sumas, Everson and Nooksack, churches, businesses and residents busily organized places to stay and provided food in Lynden. At the North County Christ the King Church, what started out as small event to help turned into a major temporary shelter operation, with 46 people staying overnight, said Ramona Stumpf, director of life ministries for the church.
“We’re so grateful that the community has stepped up to help,” said Stumpf, noting that residents showed up with clothing, food and pet kennels.
As the donations arrived, so did the people who were displaced from their homes. Stumpf said they saw around 70 people overall, many from the Sumas community.
Other Lynden churches also offered help and shelter, including the First Reformed Church and the Sonlight Community Church, according to a Facebook post from the Lynden Chamber of Commerce.
On Tuesday morning, Nov. 16, about 100 more displaced people arrived at the Sonlight Community Church, said Gary Vis, executive director at the Lynden Chamber of Commerce. The chamber was helping coordinate where to put those who needed help. The arrivals at Sonlight were from the Sumas, Nooksack and Everson areas. They are also making room for what they expect will be some arrivals from Ferndale as the floodwaters hit that community Tuesday.
“I was expecting flooding, but not to the degree it happened,” said Vis. “It’s been so encouraging to see people with an overwhelming desire to help.”
Lynden is no stranger to harsh winter events; it typically has to deal with the deep freeze that happens in the winter. By just being a little higher in elevation than its neighbors, Vis said they were able to avoid much of the flooding issues seen in the other north county communities.
Businesses have also been donating in a big way, Stumpf said. At Christ the King, they received food donations from Safeway and dinner was being prepared by the Fairway Cafe. Fitness gyms, including Homestead Fitness Center and Forge Fitness, were providing showers for those impacted by the flooding, according to the chamber.
As of Tuesday morning, Stumpf said they had everything they need in terms of clothing. She’s urging residents to hold on to other donations and bring them in later because they will be needing them again in the coming days and weeks. She’s also urging residents to drop by to visit the shelters, especially those who understand Spanish, just to talk to those who have had to go through this experience.
“We’ve had some people come in who are just shell-shocked,” Stumpf said.
Vis agreed about the need to keep the enthusiasm to help going beyond the first few days.
“This is a long-haul situation,” Vis said. “We’re encouraging everyone to just be ready. We have the holidays coming and the lives of so many have been turned upside down.”
Stumpf said they are also grateful to those who have experience with clothing drives. She noted with a laugh that several with that experience came by and “whipped us into shape.”
“We know this will be a big recovery effort,” Stumpf said. “But we also have people here who just love to serve, and the response has been amazing.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 1:24 PM.
