Julee Laurent, of St. Joseph, Volunteer Engagement Manager at United Way, spent the months of February and March planning relief efforts in Niles and Berrien Springs after historic flooding of the St. Joseph River. Not only did she organize cleanup efforts with nearly 600 volunteers, but she also rolled up her sleeves and donated her own time to the cause.

What did you do to help with flood relief?

It was a three-step process of working with the families, cleaning the surrounding areas and getting things out of the homes that needed to get out of there.

Working with the families was the most heartwarming part of this, because the first thing we did was talk to the families. We were working with families who had lost a lot if not everything. You don’t tend to think of that human level.

When you are volunteering the mindset is just to get in there and get rid of what’s damaged, but we really got to know the people we were volunteering for. That was probably the most important part of the day.

Why did you volunteer your own time to flood relief?

At United Way, when this all started to happen and the waters started to rise everyone here knew we had to mobilize and do whatever we could, because we knew this was going to bad and there were going to be a lot of people who would be needing a lot of help. Everyone in this office was willing to do what needed to done. Personally, I couldn’t even imagine what [flood victims] were going through. Maybe one or two times my basement flooded just a little bit and that was stressful enough. I can’t imagine the type of stress and toll the major flooding those people had would have on you, to lose everything.

These families have children and had to leave their homes to live in a shelter, which had to have been hard. So, for me personally, I knew I had to help.

What was it like working with nearly 600 volunteers?

When we saw there were 600 people across Berrien and Cass counties that had our backs and were read to help, you see the power of our community and the power of the people when we all act as one. It was incredible. I really want to thank all the people who worked with such a good attitude and were really willing to get in there and do the work. It was amazing to see.

Why do you think it is important for the community to volunteer in times like the flood?

There is nothing bigger anyone can give than their time, especially now that, as a society, people are so busy. Time is a precious commodity. When people give that, it is so powerful because you are truly giving something you can’t get back. It’s quite a gift.