UMCOR sends 30,000 pounds of supplies to New Jersey

Date: September 24, 1999

NEW YORK -- Flood victims in the Bound Brook, N.J., area are benefiting from 30,000 pounds of cleaning supplies donated by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). The supplies, which arrived Sept. 25, included a thousand mops, brooms and flood buckets full of cleaning items, along with paper towels, cleaning solutions and bleach. The items were shipped by truck from the UMCOR Depot in Baldwin, La.

The downtown section of Bound Brook was nearly submerged when rains from Hurricane Floyd caused the Raritan River to overflow on Sept. 16. Efforts to rescue residents trapped in their homes involved hundreds of National Guard troops, police officers, firefighters, six helicopters and numerous boats.

United Methodists have joined with other churches and synagogues in the area to bring both spiritual comfort and physical healing to those affected by the disaster, according to United Methodist Bishop Alfred Johnson, New Jersey Area.

The Rev. Aida Fernandez, serving as interim disaster response coordinator for both the Northern and Southern New Jersey United Methodist Conferences, told United Methodist News Service she has been impressed by the ecumenical effort.

The United Methodist Church in Bound Brook, for example, has set up a food pantry and is accepting nonperishable food donations. Congregation Knesseth Israel is overseeing a temporary housing program, while the Congregational and Presbyterian churches are serving as Red Cross shelters. St. Joseph's Catholic Church is a distribution center for cleaning supplies, St. Paul's Episcopal Church is distributing clothing and the Reformed Church is coordinating work teams. Others standing by to assist are First Baptist, Our Lady of Mercy, Saint John's Lutheran and Saint Mary's Catholic churches.

Fernandez said they also are learning of other communities where assistance is needed. In Westwood, for instance, two church families lost their homes when a lake overflowed its banks.

The bishop has called a meeting of United Methodists -- two representatives from each district in both conferences -- for Sept. 29 at the Bound Brook church. Assisted by representatives from UMCOR and the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), the group will consider "the long-term process of helping to rebuild the areas," Fernandez added.

Individuals or work teams interested in assisting with the recovery process in Bound Brook, Manville and Lodi in New Jersey or Spring Valley in New York should call UMCOR's Volunteer Hotline at (800) 918-3100. Volunteers must provide for their own lodging.

Donations can be made to UMCOR for Hurricanes '99, Advance #982460-1 and placed in church collection plates or mailed directly to 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit card donations can be made by calling 1-800-554-8583.

* Kimball G. Pease, a member of UMCOR's national disaster response team, provided information for this story.

Photos: 1. A FEMA community relations worker speaks with a flood victim from Manville, NJ. 2. Debris removal begins in Lodi. Credit: Andrea Booher/FEMA News Photo.