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Date: August 4, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com) 
 

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN NEWSLINE
August 4, 2005
 
HURRICANE AFFECTS CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN DISASTER RESPONSE PROJECT IN 
FLORIDA
 
August 4, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- "Hurricane Dennis forced us to batten down  the

hatches and close down the project the week of July 10," reported Jane	
Yount, coordinator of the Church of the Brethren General Board's Disaster 
Response 
program. The program has a rebuilding project ongoing in Florida  following 
the series of hurricanes that hit the state in 2004. 
 
"Thankfully, Dennis didn't wreak as much havoc as Ivan, but more people are  
now in need of assistance," Yount said. The current Disaster Response project

is  located in Pensacola and in Escambia County, which Yount said is the 
poorest  county in Florida and the 17th poorest in the nation.
 
"The hurricane season is coming up on its eighth named storm," Yount added.  
"This kind of hurricane activity so early in the season is unprecedented and 

serves as a reminder that the world is an unpredictable place. But we can
take 
 heart, for we have victory over the world in Christ!" For updated hurricane 

predictions for the year, the Disaster Response staff recommend
_www.disasternews.net/news/news.php?articleid=2744_ 
(http://www.disasternews.net/news/news.php?articleid=2744) .
 
Yount highlighted volunteer needs in Florida, where volunteers are  scheduled

only through Oct. 1. "The entire month of October is open for anyone  who 
feels called to go for a week or two," she said. She called on district 
disaster 
coordinators to recruit volunteer groups for two-week commitments if  
possible. 
 
Work at the Florida project consists mainly of repairs to water-damaged  
sections of homes, including drywall, floors, insulation, and siding. "As is 

often the case in many low-income coastal areas where older homes have been  
battered by previous storms, some of the repairs may have been needed prior
to  the 
latest storm," Yount said. "Some pre-existing damage may need to be repaired 

in order to make the current storm repairs more durable and meet local 
building  codes." 
 
A Brethren Disaster Response rebuilding project in Hallam, Neb., following  
tornado damage, closed on July 29. Brethren Volunteer Service workers Larry
and 
 Sandee Kitzel have stayed on longer to shut down the project. Larry Kitzel  
"reports that we ended in good standing with all the homeowners we have  
assisted, and all are very appreciative of our work," Yount said.
 
A new project in Belmont County, Ohio, repairing and rebuilding homes  
following flooding, continues this summer. "Southeastern Ohio was hit with
three  
severe floods," Yount said, "first by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan in Sept.
 
2004, a second time in December, and the third in January, caused by rain and
 
rapid snow melt. In Belmont County, dozens of homes along the Ohio River and 
its  tributaries were destroyed and over 150 more were heavily damaged." The 
Brethren  project began in June. Work to be done includes demolition;
interior 
repairs  such as drywall, insulation, and floors; vinyl siding, decks, and 
steps; and  rebuilding from the ground up.
 
For more information about volunteer opportunities in Florida and Ohio,  
please contact a Church of the Brethren district disaster coordinator or call
 the 
Disaster Response office at 800-451-4407.
 
Yount also repeated a request for a volunteer tool coordinator team to come  
to the program's New Windsor, Md., office to work at standardizing the tools 
in  tool trailers and to test and replace tools as necessary. Contact Roy 
Winter at  _rwinter_gb@brethren.org_ (mailto:rwinter_gb@brethren.org)  for
more  
information.
 
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to  
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its
faith  in 
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith  
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its
 300th 
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United	
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the  
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
 
# # #
 
For more information contact:
 
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the  Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
847-742-5100  ext. 260
_cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org_ 
(mailto:cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org) 
 
*****************************************************************
The  Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford,

 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board. 
Newsline  stories may be reprinted provided that Newsline is cited as the
source. 
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