A hurricane slammed into the Dominican Republic, destroying mud huts and rice paddies and nearly wiping out the small, remote town of Pimentel.

Three months later and nearly 1,500 miles away in the Baltimore region, dozens of volunteers will collect food, supplies and furniture to help the residents rebuild on higher ground.

“The people were plunged into desperate situations,” said David Maier, an Elkridge home remodeler and volunteer with Metro Maryland chapter of Youth for Christ, a ministry group based in Baltimore City.

“We are just doing the work that needs to be done.”

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Volunteers for Project Serve, which also leads outreach efforts in Baltimore City, plan to fill a 40-foot container today with cabinets, furniture, clothes and hundreds of pounds of rice donated by area businesses and residents.

The boxes, which are being stored at Maier’s house in Elkridge in Howard, will be labeled, packed and shipped to Pimentel.

The connection with Pimentel was forged more than a decade ago when a Baltimore area volunteer met a Pimentel pastor while traveling in the Domincan Republic. Since then, Youth for Christ groups travel to Pimentel, which is about 3 1/2 hours from Santo Domingo, for volunteer trips each year, providing medical clinics, helping build a school and digging wells.

Now, in the wake of Hurricane Noel, their efforts are needed more than ever, volunteers said.

Food shipments from relief agencies delivered after the November 2007 storm are long gone. Electricity is sparse, plumbing is nonexistent and disease runs rampant, volunteers said.

Led by Pastor Radhamas Quesada in Pimentel and with help from the Dominican Republic government, residents are rebuilding the town on higher ground less vulnerable to flooding.

What makes Pimentel unique is the strong sense of family and the motivated organization of Pimentel’s local leaders, said Youth for Christ volunteer Mark Miller, of Parkville in Baltimore County.

“It’s the family, team-oriented approach,” Miller said.

For the Baltimore area youth who travel to Pimentel, the visit to a developing country can be a “life-changing” experience, said Rob Benson, a coordinator for Maryland Metro Youth for Christ.

“It's a pretty powerful impact on their lives,” he said.

TO HELP

Click here for more information on Project Serve’s outreach programs to the Dominican Republic and other locations.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com