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Click here for "Some Thoughts on Giving: Christmas 2001"
December 28, 2001: Thousands of people in the United States, the Caribbean, and Central America are still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by the tropical storms and hurricanes of this past year. In the Houston, Texas area, rebuilding continues from the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Allison and additional funds and volunteers are needed. UMCOR has sent a grant of $50,000 to a rural women's association in Belize to assist indigenous communities that were devastated by Hurricane Iris. Thirty-eight villages in the Toledo District of Belize were severely affected and 14,000 people were left homeless. Funds will be used to repair and rebuild homes, to provide food and medicine, to establish a revolving loan fund for seeds and tools, and to provide trauma counseling. An additional grant has also been sent to assist flood survivors in the Northern Coastal region and Bay Islands of Honduras. Other areas affected by this year's storms include the Bahamas, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cuba, and Florida. Please continue to support Hurricanes 2001, Advance #982350.
Your gifts to UMCOR's International Disaster Response, Advance #982450 enable UMCOR to respond to many emergency situations around the world which may never make headline news, but cause immense suffering and need. The most recent example is a situation in the Philippines, where a community, many of whose members were United Methodists, were caught in a conflict between the military and an insurgent group. Many innocent people were massacred, many have fled, and others lost their fishing boats and nets and farm animals. They are now fearing starvation and UMCOR has sent a grant to provide emergency relief in response to a request from the United Methodist Church in the Philippines. Your support of this Advance, #982450, makes it possible for UMCOR to respond to people in need whether the scale of the emergency is large or small.
Volunteers are urgently needed in Houston, Texas and in North Carolina where the rebuilding from Hurricane Floyd continues. Please call the Volunteer Line at (800) 918-3100.
Gifts may be made through local United Methodist churches, or by calling 1-800-554-8583. Credit card donations are accepted. (Read more about how you can help UMCOR's emergency responses.)
UMCOR is providing emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about current UMCOR ministries, please visit the website: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor.
We wish you a joyous, peaceful Christmastide. As we celebrate the birth of Christ and look toward the New Year, please hold in your hearts and prayers those who continue to suffer from hunger, poverty, violence, and disaster.
