WINFIELD, Mo. — Nine-year-old Eli Nielson tosses a sandbag over his shoulder as he spends another warm summer vacation day in Winfield reinforcing a levee he's never even seen.
"No I haven't," Eli said, "but I bet it's big."
Eli's one in more than a hundred volunteers to show up in Winfield, ready to build a plywood wall along the lower parts of the Pin Oak Levee, all in hopes of saving about 40 homes.
Neilson is part of the group Mormon Helping Hands, as is Taylor Williams who just wrapped up a cross-country trip.
"I found out yesterday we were getting people for the call," Williams said. "We were up in Colorado. "We put the boys in the car, and we drove on out, and decided we wanted to help."
The bags they're filling are just some of the thousands already in place. With water expected to crest Saturday, Winfield will need all the help they can get until the river levels fall again.