The UMCOR Hotline

October 12, 2004

World Food Day: Hunger No More
On October 24 ABC television affiliates will begin to air "Hunger No More," a documentary that shows how United Methodists and other faith groups participate in resolving the social and moral issues of hunger. UMCOR is one of the program's underwriters. Contact your local ABC affiliate to ensure that "Hunger No More" airs in your community. The documentary is one initiative UMCOR is highlighting for United Methodist congregations involved in hunger issues. To celebrate World Food Day Oct. 16 you can use a new resource, "Multiplication: The Arithmetic of Sustainable Agriculture." This E-Bulletin Insert is available to download and print locally. See how a harvest of honey, the humble soybean, and a fast-growing tree contribute to UMCOR's sustainable agriculture program in impoverished areas of Africa. Throughout the month of October UMCOR's partner Foods Resource Bank celebrates the harvest with special regional programs. To see if your area is holding a celebration, visit online at http://www.foodsresourcebank.org . Finally, gifts of money assist with long-term solutions. Give generously to UMCOR Advance #982188, Sustainable Agriculture, and UMCOR Advance #982920, World Hunger and Poverty.

USA and Caribbean: UMCOR Is on the Job in Hurricane Recovery
A thousand Cuban families have begun to receive building supplies to replace their roofs and walls demolished by the punishing winds of hurricanes Charley and Frances. With funding from from UMCOR, the Cuban Council of Churches is implementing recovery efforts in four municipalities-- Alquizar, Guira de Melena, Bauta, and Caimito. For another 300 families the council will replace blankets, mattresses, sheets, and towels lost to floodwaters and mud.

In Haiti, UMCOR is one of several ecumenical partners clearing debris, rehabbing schools, and providing fresh water. The Gonaïves region, where mudslides and high water drove 300,000 from their homes and killed more than 3,000, is the focus of the aid. UMCOR international field staff are in Haiti today assessing further initiatives.

Meanwhile in the southeastern United States, the government's emergency agency, FEMA, has registered its millionth individual seeking hurricane disaster assistance since mid-August. Some 24,000 volunteers are working in the region. United Methodists in Florida have served 135,000 meals to hurricane survivors and relief workers. Eighty-five truckloads of emergency food have rolled into the state. In the Alabama-West Florida conference, volunteers Barbara and Don Weaver report that ecumenical teams and churches are "one in the spirit" as people work together "to help with debris removal, work in shelters, serve food-whatever was needed to help those who are hurting."

UMCOR continues its urgent call for flood buckets, the supplies volunteers use to clean up post-hurricane debris and water. Specifications are online. Your gifts of money enable specially trained disaster workers to minister in hard-hit areas; provide direct assistance such as rent payments; and underwrite 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.

Azerbaijan: Medicine Boxes Help Assure Healthy Families
Children, adults of all ages, and babies and their mothers will be healthier if United Methodists respond to UMCOR's urgent call for Medicine Boxes needed now in Azerbaijan. Many clinics and hospitals there receive basic supplies sporadically, if at all. A Medicine Box^®, assembled and shipped by UMCOR partner Interchurch Medical Assistance, contains essential drugs and medical supplies to treat about 1,000 people for three months. Each IMA-assembled Medicine Box containing prescription medicines and over-the-counter supplies costs $425. 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. To designate a country, simply write the name, together with the code, in the memo line of your check.

Liberia: Health Kits Restore Dignity
Demand is exceeding supplies of health kits and school kits at Soul Clinic Camp near Monrovia, Liberia. An UMCOR health kit costs about $14 to make. "After you've been sitting in a displaced person camp for weeks without soap, what that $14 health kit really provides is dignity," said the Rev. Kristin Sachen, head of UMCOR's Emergency Services Office. "Run your tongue over your teeth," she continued. "You know what it feels like when you've missed a brushing? Imagine a year without toothpaste. That health kit brings hope in a tube of toothpaste. When you've been displaced by people who want you dead, a health kit says 'Yours is a life worth living ... I believe in you.'" Some of the 23,000 displaced people who occupy the camp, managed by UMCOR, have been refugees or internally displaced since 1993. This kind of hands-on mission is a great project for a church school class or congregation. Your church can assemble kits or, if you prefer, purchase bulk supplies. You can find instructions 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.

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

MIRACLE TREE: The Moringa oleifera, a tree native to India, grows rapidly in Africa and is very versatile. Every part of it, from leaves to bark, has an important use. This tree is one element of UMCOR's sustainable agriculture program in Africa.

"IVAN the TERRIBLE": Palm trees faced strong winds and heavy rains in La Coloma, Cuba, as Hurricane Ivan approached the most western part of the nation last month. The powerful hurricane churned into the Gulf of Mexico after ripping off roofs and downing trees and power lines in Cuba. It went on to wreak havoc on the southeastern coast of the United States. 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. As of mid-October, United Methodists in Florida had served 135,000 meals to hurricane survivors and relief workers. Credit: Tom Hazelwood/UMCOR, September 9, 2004.

See more UMCOR photos of the aftermath of Hurricane Frances and Charley.

More Information About UMCOR's Work

• Church Bulletin Insert: Hurricanes 2004: After the Eye of the Storm.
• Church Bulletin Insert: Multiplication: The Arithmetic of Sustainable Agriculture.
• Medicine Boxes: Contents and Instructions.
• UMCOR Emergency Kits: Health kits, school kits, flood buckets, and more.
• UMCOR Hurricanes 2004: Response News.
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