April 19, 2005
Worldwide: Health Kits Top UMCOR's Wish List
UMCOR is putting out an emergency call for health kits! UMCOR field offices have requested nearly 193,000 health kits for distribution in 2005 - more than UMCOR has ever shipped before. New operations in Indonesia and Sri Lanka have placed demands on supplies of kits. Elderly refugees and children displaced from their homes in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are also beneficiaries. The kits provide much needed supplies for daily hygiene for vulnerable people who have little to call their own. "UMCOR can use every health kit our congregations can make," said Kristin L. Sachen, head of the agency's emergency services office. The 2005 requests for school kits is 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. See our web site for specifications and shipping information. Please consider these in-kind gifts as expressions of your care for the most vulnerable. Or let a cash gift "say it for you" - to UMCOR Advance #901440, Material Resource Ministry, "Health Kits" or "School Kits."
United States: UMCOR Rushes Aid to Flood-stricken Areas
Water levels along the Delaware River were the highest in decades as recent floods displaced more than 7,000 people. UMCOR's executive for US disaster response, Tom Hazelwood, will visit affected areas this week. The agency has sent emergency grants to Greater New Jersey, Western New York, and Troy annual conferences. Troy Conference covers the regions of northeastern New York, where the floods have been, and Vermont. Volunteers are using flood buckets from Mission Central to clear away water damage in the Troy conference. In all these regions, floodwaters have caused widespread destruction particularly in impoverished communities. Emergency aid for such recoveries depends on your generosity to UMCOR Advance #901670, Domestic Disaster Response. Please pray for the vulnerable people caught in the flooding, and consider a gift of money now.
South Asia: Thankful UMCOR Announces Long-term Operations
United Methodists contributed $32.4 million to the emergency fund that is providing relief and rehabilitation in the wake of a devastating South Asia tsunami late last year. The tally is as of the end of March and is the largest amount ever received by UMCOR following a disaster. Last week the agency detailed a $19.2 million long-term development package for Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Projects are also under way in India, Somalia, and Thailand. Agency officials said that meetings this week in India and Indonesia will result in additional long-term projects. For a complete report, please visit our web site.
UMCOR gives thanks to God for the outpouring of generous gifts. "The blessing for UMCOR is the absence of time constraints on delivering a long-term program of aid and development in South Asia," said the Rev. Kristin L. Sachen, head of UMCOR's emergency services. She noted that the operating rules established by many other relief agencies compel them to spend all funds within a predetermined timeframe. "For that reason UMCOR has the added grace to stay until the job is done," she said. "We can cover the gaps other agencies may miss because of their speed."
Zimbabwe: Every Thirty Seconds -
"Every 30 seconds an African child dies of hunger," R. Randy Day, chief executive of the church's global mission organization, told United Methodists gathered in Stamford, Conn., for the agency's board meeting last week. UMCOR is sending emergency grants to Zimbabwe, where the bishop has asked for aid to combat hunger. Please consider a generous gift to UMCOR Advance #101250, All Africa Drought and Famine.
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.