wfn.org | Church of the Brethren begins child care, clean-up projects

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: Sept. 8,	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
Sept. 8, 2005

Church of the Brethren begins Disaster Child Care and clean-up projects
following Hurricane Katrina

Sept. 8, 2005 (Elgin, IL) --  The Church of the Brethren's Disaster  Child
Care program and Emergency Response/Service Ministries have begun projects
 in
several areas as the denominationâs response to Hurricane Katrina grows. In
addition, two more grants have been given from the Church of the Brethrenâs
Emergency Disaster Fund, and trainings are being offered for more child care
volunteers.

Disaster Child Care (DCC) began providing child care on Sept. 7 in three  Red
Cross Family Assistance Centers. The centers are providing services to
displaced citizens who have been relocated to Grand Rapids, Mich.; Denver,
 Colo.;
and Kingwood, W.Va. Plans are underway to deploy child-care volunteers to
Wichita, Kan.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Pensacola and Gulf Breeze, Fla.

"In order to expand our pool of Disaster Child Care volunteers for this
large response, we will be adding training events to the schedule," said Helen
Stonesifer, DCC coordinator. Information on training events is available at
_www.disasterchildcare.org_ (http://www.disasterchildcare.org) .

Brethren Disaster Response will begin a clean-up project on Sept. 13 in
the 
Southeastern District of the Church of the Brethren. Cedar Creek Church of the
 Brethren in Citronelle, Ala., is opening its facilities for both clean-up
volunteers and one team of child-care workers. Citronelle is just 35 miles
north  of Mobile, and can be a staging point for a number of southern Alabama and
Mississippi communities. To volunteer to take part in this project, call
800-451-4407.

Shipments of relief materials from the warehouses at the Brethren Service
Center in New Windsor, Md., continue to the Gulf Coast, as well as to
areas 
where displaced citizens are being relocated. Over 60,000 pounds of Church World
Service blankets and Gift of the Heart Kits have been packed by Service
Ministries staff and shipped to Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and  Arkansas.

Interchurch Medical Assistance, Inc. (IMA) has responded to a request from
Church World Service for 20 IMA Medicine Boxes to help meet the basic health
care needs of displaced people in two shelters in Louisiana. In this first-ever
 domestic response in the US, IMA is being supported by its pharmaceutical
donors	and receiving generous cash donations from its online constituency.

Two grants have been made from the Emergency Disaster Fund this week, in
addition to an initial grant of $15,000, bringing to $45,000 the total given
from the fund for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts so far.

An allocation of $25,000 supports the Emergency Response/Service
Ministries 
relief efforts including deployment of Disaster Child Care volunteers,
emergency  training for new child care volunteers, support for Brethren Disaster
Response  volunteers at the Brethren Service Center, and support for
Church of the
 Brethren congregations in Alabama, Louisiana, and other states responding to
the  needs of survivors.

An allocation of $5,000 provides funds for the Southern Plains District of
the Church of the Brethren. The money will assist the district in
providing aid
 to hurricane survivors being sheltered near two Church of the Brethren
congregations in Louisiana.

To contribute to this effort, donate on-line at _www.brethren.org_
(http://www.brethren.org)  or send a check made out to	the Emergency Disaster Fund to
1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120.

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.
Kathleen  Campanella and Jane Yount contributed to this report. Newsline stories
may be	reprinted provided that Newsline is cited as the source. To receive
Newsline by  e-mail, write _cobnews@aol.com_ (mailto:cobnews@aol.com)  or call
800-323-8039 ext. 260.