wfn.org | UMCOR appeals for U.S. disaster response funds

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Oct. 9, 2003 News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.  
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NOTE: A sidebar, UMNS story #486, is available with this report.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Green*

A series of major storms has taxed the United Methodist Church's relief
agency, virtually depleting its funds for responding to future disasters in
the United States.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is launching a churchwide appeal
Oct. 19 to replenish its funds. Agency leaders are urging local churches to
take an offering on that date or soon after.

Storms during the past 16 months have left the agency with less than $100,000
for undesignated disaster response in the United States.

Since last year, UMCOR has provided $1.5 million to annual conferences for
relief and response work. Annual conferences are asking UMCOR for another
$1.1 million to continue existing recovery programs in response to storms in
the South and Midwest. Additional funds are needed to address the devastation
caused by Hurricane Isabel, which struck the East Coast in September.

Based on previous appeals, UMCOR anticipates raising more than $2 million,
though agency officials say the need in the annual conferences could exceed
that.

Louisiana is one of many states where UMCOR provides ongoing recovery help.
Hurricanes Isidore and Lilly struck the state within days of each other in
October 2002, destroying farmland and homes.

"The United Methodist Committee on Relief is a way in which our faith is put
into concrete action," said Louisiana Bishop William Hutchinson. "It is a way
in which our beliefs are transmitted to the general public, and it is a way
to help people recover from things not necessarily of their own making. UMCOR
is a way for us to be responsible to God as we are called to be a servant and
care for other people."

The agency is appealing to church members for money "because the vast
majority of our donations are specifically designated for a particular
Advance and we cannot use them (the money) for this purpose," said the Rev.
Kristin Sachen, a UMCOR staff executive. The Advance is a churchwide program
that raises money for a wide range of ministries and mission work.

The appeal money, Sachen said, would be used to fund programs developed by
annual conference disaster response teams. UMCOR helps conferences assist the
most vulnerable through long-term case management and volunteer building and
repair teams. 

UMCOR is funded through the proceeds from the annual One Great Hour of
Sharing offering, taken the fourth Sunday during Lent, and not by
apportionments, she said.  "Our capacity to respond to the forgotten
disasters is determined by the availability of undesignated funds. We don't
want any annual conference to be forgotten." The annual offering raises 27
cents per church member for UMCOR, she said.

United Methodists should respond to the appeal because "UMCOR is one of the
longest-serving disaster recovery bodies that is on site," Hutchinson said. 
While other groups come in immediately and then leave, "UMCOR is there for
the long term and does a tremendous amount of work over a long period of
time. This is where the long-term effects of helping people in their lives
takes place."

UMCOR, he added, "puts our faith in action and puts our concern for people
and their lives on the front burner." 

Since May, severe weather systems have brought tornados, floods and
hurricanes to numerous parts of the United States, leaving behind major
damage and exposing the most vulnerable. The events brought death, injuries,
damage and destruction to homes, businesses and crops.

Sachen said the UMCOR appeal has four objectives:  
7	To make United Methodists "aware of the situation facing brothers and
sisters in the U.S. who have been devastated by disasters that the rest of us
have forgotten."  
7	To build an awareness leading to a "compassionate response" in the
form of money or material help for the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot in Louisiana,
as well as encourage volunteer help for United Methodist-related recovery
organizations.
7	To enable UMCOR to fund annual conference efforts to "provide
compassionate ministry to those in their midst who are living in deplorable
conditions."
7	To affirm United Methodists as part of a connectional church that
supports people in times of need.

Donations can be designated for "Churchwide Appeal for USA Domestic
Disasters," UMCOR Advance No. 901670. Checks can be made to UMCOR and placed
in church offering plates or sent to the agency at 475 Riverside Drive, Room
330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card donors can call (800) 554-8583, and
online donations can be made at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/.
# # #
*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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