Medicine Boxes are urgently needed. Requests for several hundred boxes have come from Russia, Honduras, Angola, Puerto Rico, Mozambique, Lithuania, Haiti, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Republic of Georgia. These boxes contain prescription and over-the-counter medicines and are designed to serve a community of 1,000 people for a period of three months.

   Congregations participating in this project need to collect specified non-prescription medicines and contribute $375.00 per box to cover the cost of the prescription medicines and shipping. The total cost to a congregation is approximately $400.00, and the market value of a completed Medicine Box is approximately $4,500.00 Please call (212) 870-3683 for further information, or order a Medicine Box Guide from the Service Center, (800) 305-9857 or visit the Medicine Box web site.

   Recovery from major storms continues in various parts of the United States. To date, more than 12,000 volunteers have assisted with clean up and rebuilding in North Carolina. The conference disaster response staff and volunteers work on approximately 100 homes per month. Rebuilding continues in Oklahoma as well. This past week was the one year anniversary of the catastrophic tornadoes in Oklahoma. Your gifts to the Churchwide Appeal for Major Storm Devastation '99, Advance #982460-1 are still needed to assist with these rebuilding efforts..

   Please give generously to "Ethiopian Famine Relief," Advance #101250-4. At least 8 million people in Ethiopia are facing famine and millions more in surrounding countries. UMCOR funds will provide food, seeds and tools..

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.)

   Please pray for all who suffer from natural and human-made disasters, hunger, and poverty.

See also:

• Why Another Drought in Ethiopia? by Paul Jeffrey
• Waiting to Die in Southern Ethiopia by Paul Jeffrey