WINFIELD, MO (AP) — Volunteers have started removing the hundreds of thousands of sandbags used to keep floodwaters at bay in the northeast Missouri town of Winfield.

WINFIELD — It took the National Guard to build it and now an army of volunteers is working to tear down Winfield's temporary levee.

It took the National Guard to build it and now an army of volunteers is working to tear down Winfield's temporary levee.

The flood waters have receded in many places but the clean-up continues in places like Winfield. Volunteers came from across the country to help homeowners who turned into flood victims when the levees broke.

As the cleanup and recovery process continues, federal officials have moved into Pacific to help get disaster aid to the people who need it most. City officials have shut down the emergency operations center that was set up at City Hall for about two weeks, following the flooding in late March.

Service International (SI), a faith-based volunteer group from Chesterfield Valley, is offering to provide flood cleanup at no cost to Pacific property owners.

Developers of The Private Residences at The Chase Park Plaza are donating furniture, fixtures, cabinets and appliances from 250 Park Plaza apartments to help Hurricane Katrina survivors and re-settlers who are restoring buildings. The Chase said Thursday that the developers recently partnered with Chesterfield, Mo.-based Service International, a nonprofit community restoration organization, on their in-kind donations.

More than 500 volunteers recently rolled up their sleeves, fastened bandannas, threw on cowboy hats and went to work giving some underprivileged children healthy smiles during "Give Kids A Smile Goes West," a country-themed dental clinic.

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More than a year later, the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina are no longer in the public eye as they were in the weeks just after the storm. But as a group of Tulsa college students found out, residents in New Orleans are still in desperate need of help.

"I really, really, badly needed help but I was scared. I was scared to let anybody in my house." She did open her door one day and ended up with an army of volunteers dressed in orange. Orange is the color of Service International, a Chesterfield based organization with the motto 'Honor God, Help People.'

...There were more than 300 orange-shirted volunteers up and down the streets this weekend, helping residents clean up after a tornado that ravaged the Lawrence County town two weeks ago...

SLU students will assist Service International with the demolition of buildings that were flooded or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. After demolition, the students will help with power washing, sanitizing and rebuilding efforts.

ST. LOUIS Thirty-nine Saint Louis University students head south for spring break tomorrow, but it won't be the traditional party on the beach. The students are giving up their vacation to help the rebuilding effort in New Orleans. They will assist Service International with demolition of buildings that were flooded or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

The week after Christmas has been no holiday for a group of church-based volunteers in Chesterfield. Instead of taking time off, they headed south to join hurricane recovery efforts.

Respected information giant Reuters cited SI's efforts for providing shelter to tsunami victims left homeless since last December. The article states that "St. Louis-based Christian evangelical group Service International was among the first to build permanent homes in Sri Lanka."

The Allegan County News article states, "For Hamilton [Michigan] residents, Ron and Paula Lancaster, it was a chance to answer that call for help." The Hamiltons led a group from their church to join SI and help hurricane relief victims.

"After finishing its own flood recovery, a St. Louis church formed a ministry with a mandate to help people clean up after floods anywhere in the world. It's called Service International, and it's at work here."