December 4, 1998

Georgia Youth Prepare Boxes for Honduras

The youth ministry organization of the North Georgia United Methodist Annual Conference has initiated a special project to help Hurricane Mitch survivors in Honduras.

Called "STOCKBOXES," the project solicits both shoeboxes full of specific supplies to Honduras Outreach, a United Methodist-approved mission program based in Decatur, Ga., and cash donations to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).

The Rev. Mike Selleck, director of youth ministries for the North Georgia Conference, is promoting STOCKBOXES as a response that other youth groups in the denomination can make for the hurricane relief efforts. "Too often we get caught up in daily pressures and before long, the headlines find a new focus, the urgency fades and another opportunity passes," he wrote in a letter posted on the Internet.

The shoeboxes should be delivered to the Honduras Outreach warehouses in Stone Mountain, Ga. Dole Foods then will ship the boxes to Honduras at no cost.

Selleck is targeting cash donations of $100 per youth group. "Because not all needs are 'boxable' and Mitch hit other places beyond Honduras, cash is critical," he wrote. "All cash will be handled through your local church treasury, sent to your own conference treasurer and then on to UMCOR."

A step-by-step guide to preparing STOCKBOXES is available by calling Selleck at (404) 659-0002, ext. 3217 or by email at selleck@negia.net.

Photo: A woman and her two children in Colonia Soto. Their house disappeared in a gigantic mudslide provoked by Hurricane Mitch. They're now living in a makeshift hut at the edge of the mudslide. (Photo Paul Jeffrey/CCD.)