The UMCOR Hotline
April 12, 2005
United States: UMCOR Rushes Flood Buckets to Delaware River Region
"Some areas are used to flooding, but this time is so much worse than in the past," said a United Methodist pastor who serves near the Delaware River. Water levels, the worst in 50 years, have displaced more than 7,000 people. Volunteers are cleaning up with 400 UMCOR flood buckets sent to the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference from Mission Central in Pennsylvania. UMCOR expects to respond in New Jersey with an emergency grant as well. Another 100 flood buckets filled with cleanup supplies were shipped to the Troy Conference, which encompasses northeastern New York and Vermont. UMCOR also is monitoring needs in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. Emergency aid for such recoveries depends on your generosity to UMCOR Advance #901670, Domestic Disaster Response. Please give now!
South Asia: Difficult Access Hampers Relief Efforts After New Quake
The United Methodist Committee on Relief is part of an ecumenical coalition that rushed emergency aid to the island of Nias, hard hit by a powerful earthquake that struck off the west coast of Indonesia on Monday, March 28. In partnership with Church World Service, UMCOR has sent medicines, emergency supplies, and a water purification unit. People sleeping in the open have welcomed the tents and blankets that were among the supplies flown in by helicopter. Workers report, however, that delivery of some aid has been slowed because of damaged bridges and airport runways. In addition to sending emergency aid to the Indian Ocean region devastated by last December's tsunami, UMCOR is investing an initial $14 million in long-term recovery projects. Staff expect to mount additional projects in the coming months. Please continue to pray for South Asia earthquake and tsunami survivors, and give generously to UMCOR Advance #274305, South Asia Emergency.
Worldwide: Health Kits at the Top of UMCOR's Wish List
UMCOR is putting out an urgent call for health kits. Already, UMCOR field offices have requested nearly 193,000 health kits for distribution in 2005 - more than UMCOR has ever shipped before. The kits provide much needed supplies for daily hygiene for vulnerable people who have little to call their own. New operations in Indonesia and Sri Lanka have placed demands on supplies of kits. Elderly refugees and children who have been displaced from their homes in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia also will be beneficiaries. "UMCOR can use every health kit our congregations can make," said Kristin L. Sachen, head of the agency's emergency services office. Requests for school kits are also at a record high. Some 78,000 school-age children will receive school kits, but only if supplies allow. Health kits and school kits are fun to assemble and can introduce even young children to the satisfaction of hands-on mission. Please consider these in-kind gifts as an expression of your care for the most vulnerable, or let a cash gift or let a cash gift "say it for you" by giving to UMCOR Advance #901440, Material Resource Ministry, "Health Kits" and/or "School Kits." See our web site for kit specifications and shipping information.
Caribbean: Haiti and Grenada Will Receive Additional Aid
UMCOR is at work in Haiti, where nearly 30,000 have remained homeless since Tropical Storm Jeanne's thrashing, and Grenada, where Hurricane Ivan's winds destroyed 90 percent of buildings and virtually all its agriculture. The humanitarian agency anticipates leveraging United Methodist donations in applying for more funds from sources such as United States Agency for International Development. UMCOR will team with the Committee on Development of the Methodist Church of Haiti and GRENCODA, a local organization in Grenada, to strengthen local capacity. Projects include helping to restore lost income, rehabilitate croplands, and repair homes for some 16,000 of the most vulnerable beneficiaries on the two islands. Your generous gifts and prayers will help in a meaningful way to assist in these long-term recoveries. Please give to UMCOR Advance #982410, Hurricanes 2004.
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
Ruins in the central business district of Gunung Sitoli on Nias Island. Last week, UMCOR, in partnership with Church World Service, sent boxes of medicines, gloves, tents, emergency supplies and a water purification unit. Credit: Jannerson Girsang, ACT International, April 3, 2005.
After a devastating earthquake that destroyed their school on April 29, 1991, the children of Argveti in the Republic of Georgia were schooled in decrepit boxcars for ten years. UMCOR built this new school for them. Children like these around the world are in need of health and school kits. Credit: Gregory Connor, UMCOR, 2002.
A father carries his child through deep waters after Tropical Storm struck Haiti in September 2004. More than 1,000 people died from flooding and mudslides. UMCOR is teaming with the Committee on Development of the Methodist Church of Haiti to assist in ongoing recovery from the lethal storm. Credit: Helmut Schrader, Diakonie Emergency Aid, November 2004.
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