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See also: Special Hurricanes 2004 Update, September 16.
September 14, 2004
Caucasus: Medicine Box Supplies Treat Common Ailments
Children, adults of all ages, and babies and their mothers from the Caucasus will be healthier if United Methodists respond to UMCOR's urgent call for Medicine Boxes needed now to support health clinics in several countries of the former Soviet Union. Many clinics and hospitals do not have basic medicines available on a regular basis. A Medicine Box®, assembled and shipped by UMCOR partner Interchurch Medical Assistance, contains essential drugs and medical supplies to treat the illnesses and injuries of about 1,000 people for three months. Medicine Boxes will be packed and shipped to hospitals and clinics serving families in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. Each IMA-assembled Medicine Box containing prescription medicines and over-the-counter supplies costs $450. Or, for a donation of $375 per box to cover the prescription drugs, your church can donate the over-the-counter supplies. You'll find a list online. To participate please consider a generous contribution to UMCOR Advance #982630, Medicine Box, specifying Caucasus.
USA and Caribbean: Hurricane Recovery Is Happening
Families in the Bahamas, hit hard by Hurricane Frances, will receive fresh water, batteries, medicines, tarpaulins, and some initial roof repair supplies like shingles and plywood thanks to an UMCOR grant. UMCOR anticipates working with its partner there, the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church, to design a long-term recovery plan. Residents of Jamaica and Cuba, who scrambled to protect their homes as ferocious Hurricane Ivan bore down, and of Grenada, where the storm was called "Ivan the Terrible," are anticipating assistance from UMCOR and its partner Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas.
UMCOR's head of emergency response in the United States, Tom Hazelwood, says the relief agency is ready to respond immediately to new weather threats. He warns that computer models show the remnants of Hurricane Ivan could create devastating floods in the Appalachian range that parallels the Atlantic on a heading north and east of the Gulf of Mexico. The relief agency has also been in talks with church officials in Mississippi, Alabama-West Florida, and other states in Ivan's way.
UMCOR continues its urgent call for flood buckets, the supplies volunteers use to clean up post-hurricane debris and water. Specifications are online.
Gifts of money enable specially trained disaster workers to minister in hard-hit areas, direct assistance such as rent payments, and purchase of building supplies. UMCOR anticipates that long-term recovery from these severe storms will take several years. Please give generously to UMCOR Advance #982410, Hurricanes 2004.
Liberia: UMCOR Calls for Additional Soul Clinic Supplies
Demand is exceeding supplies of health kits and school kits at Soul Clinic Camp near Monrovia, Liberia. Some of the 23,000 displaced people who occupy the camp, managed by UMCOR, have been refugees or internally displaced since 1993. Your church can assemble kits or, if you prefer, purchase bulk supplies. This kind of hands-on mission is a great project for a church school class or congregation. You can find instructions for assembly and shipping information online. UMCOR also welcomes your gifts of cash to Advance #901440, Material Resource Ministry, to enable the purchase of kit supplies by UMCOR staff.
Russia: Prayers Continue for Beslan
UMCOR has joined with the whole global family in prayers for the children and their loved ones whose school in the province of North Ossetia, southern Russia, was the focus of a three-day siege this month. Together with Bishop Ruediger Minor of the United Methodist Church in Russia, the relief agency is exploring possibilities for response. Bishop Minor has suggested a shipment of school kits and health kits to the Beslan area. The plan is tentative because it's complicated. There is no United Methodist congregation in Beslan. So UMCOR must identify a consignee who can receive and distribute the kits. Even with all the details still to be finalized, it's not too early to get involved! Kits are a wonderful project for a congregation or church school class. Assembly instructions may be found online. Generous donors who want to make a gift of money can direct their contributions to UMCOR Advance #982450, International Disaster Response, and designate Beslan, Russia. Watch for further updates in UMCOR Hotline.
Philippines: Flood Recovery Assists 700
People watched as a truck, loaded with groceries, rice, and construction materials, drew up this summer in several Philippine villages. Thanks to a grant from UMCOR, 700 residents whose homes had been destroyed in severe flooding earlier in the year were able to begin their long-term recovery process. Team members carried a large banner announcing the distributions. Villages included Agusan, Cagayan de Oro City, and Misamis Oriental. Thank you to all whose gifts made this story and others like it possible. But the need is still great due to devastating typhoons this season. You can ensure that more families receive emergency assistance with your generous gifts to UMCOR Advance #240235, Philippines Emergency.
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.
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Featured Photos
United Methodist Committee on Relief
"IVAN the TERRIBLE": Palm trees face strong winds and heavy rains in La Coloma, Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, as Hurricane Ivan approaches the most western part of the nation. The powerful hurricane churned into the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday on a track for the United States' coast after ripping off roofs and downing trees and power lines as it grazed western Cuba. Credit: REUTERS/Henry Romero, September 13, 2004 courtesy www.alertnet.org.
UNITED METHODISTS RESPOND: After Frances struck Florida, volunteers at United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches prepared hot meals to take to elderly people who had no electricity and no means of getting food. Credit: Tom Hazelwood/UMCOR, September 9, 2004.
See more UMCOR photos of the aftermath of Hurricane Frances and Charley.
MOURNING in BESLAN: Relatives and neighbors of a killed hostage, 8-year-old Teimuraz Morgoyev, grieve and pray in front of his house in the town of Beslan in the province of North Ossetia near Chechnya. Credit: REUTERS/Viktor Korotayev, September 4, 2004 courtesy www.alertnet.org.
More Information About UMCOR's Work
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