October 10, 2003: The rush of weather-related disasters in the United States since 2002 has placed heavy demands on UMCOR resources. Response funds are desperately low. A letter mailed to United Methodist pastors this week sets Sunday October 19 as the date for a special offering, the Churchwide Appeal for USA Domestic Disasters, Advance #901670. Go to http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/dd2003appeal.stm to download print-ready resources for this offering.
Experts say recovery from these storms could take at least two years. Overshadowed by other news, the quiet disaster of the cumulative effect of many storms has created suffering in a string of states-- Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Florida, Missouri and Oklahoma. "I know we're way behind," said one disaster responder in Indiana-- where a 2002 tornado and major flooding in July and September of this year hit hard. This special offering will enable United Methodists, through UMCOR, to assist those most vulnerable through long-term case management and volunteer building and repair teams. You can assure this healing and hope with every gift of support to the special offering on October 19, or some other Sunday in October or November.
UMCOR volunteers have created response centers in the four-state area where Hurricane Isabel is one of the worst storms in recent memory. UMCOR is providing emergency grants in response to requests from the North Carolina, Virginia, Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware annual conferences. You can help! If you can participate directly in cleanup efforts, call the UMCOR Volunteer Hotline, 1-800-918-3100. Your generous donation to Hurricanes 2003 Advance #982438 will extend your heart and hands to those who need help the most.
The mounting human tragedy in sub-Saharan Africa is the theme for the 2003 World Food Day satellite teleconference, Thursday Oct. 16 from noon to 3 p.m. Eastern Time. UMCOR is one of many faith-based, educational and government sponsors. The impact of HIV/AIDS and land and water issues on agriculture-- plus the added burden of wars and debt-- threatens to throw the region into a tailspin to disaster. You can register as many people as you want for free. Contact World Food Day teleconference at patricia.young@fao.org for more information. To participate in ministries of food justice and alleviation of hunger in the world please give generously to UMCOR Advance #982920, World Hunger/Poverty. Twenty percent of your offerings to this Advance remain in the United States; the balance supports international development.
Clashes between militias in the Ituri region Democratic Republic of Congo recently have left more than 50,000 people dead and, since 1999, forced half a million more to flee their homes. Partnering with Action by Churches Together and other private donors, UMCOR provides scholarships, mentoring and educational support to 1500 primary school girls unable to pay school fees. In addition, UMCOR has begun renovations on a riverboat, which when completed will ferry medical supplies and other desperately needed goods up the Congo River into the interior of the country, cut off from supply lines for years because of the war. Your gifts to Advance #198400 Democratic Republic of Congo, will assure that these development efforts continue. Thank you for your generosity.
UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.
And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.
