Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service -- Oct. 25, 2007 Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director 800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org
CHILDREN'S DISASTER SERVICES GEARS UP FOR CALIFORNIA FIRE RESPONSE
(Oct. 25, 2007) Elgin, IL -- In response to the wildfires that have been raging in southern California, Children's Disaster Services is preparing to open up child care centers in American Red Cross shelters as early as Thursday morning. Shelter sites may be anywhere from Ventura County south to the Mexican border.
Children's Disaster Services is a program of the Church of the Brethren, and sends trained and certified volunteers to help care for children in disaster situations.
A Rapid Response Team of volunteers from Children's Disaster Services has already been at work in one of the shelters housing evacuees from the fires. The team of a handful of volunteers is coordinated by Sharon Gilbert, a resident of southern California, and is working in cooperation with local disaster relief agencies and authorities.
The Rapid Response Team model enables volunteers to respond quickly to local disasters, said Roy Winter, director of Brethren Disaster Ministries. Representatives are in the field actively assessing the situation and deciding where responses are most needed, and how volunteers can safely travel and stay out of harm's way. "This rapid response team is what we hope to replicate throughout the country," Winter said. "It creates a first line of volunteers who are ready to respond. Once the response grows, we can send in additional volunteers from other states."
The situation in southern California "is more than we will be able to staff (with California volunteers) so the plan is to extend our reach as much as possible," said Judy Bezon, associate director of Children's Disaster Services. Bezon has asked all Children's Disaster Services regional coordinators to determine which of their volunteers would be most appropriate for this response.
San Diego Church of the Brethren is perhaps the closest Brethren congregation to the fires. It is located about three miles from the inner city of San Diego and about 25 miles away from the nearest line of fires north or south, said pastor Sara Haldeman-Scarr. The church has mostly been affected by smoke, she said. Several families in the church have been on evacuation alert, with two or three "packed and awaiting evacuation orders," she said.
Some members of San Diego Church of the Brethren have been volunteering at Qualcomm Stadium, Haldeman-Scarr said. The stadium is serving as a shelter for more than 12,000 people. The church members are registered nurses and licensed practitioners, and have been helping to offer medical services to evacuees.
For more about Children's Disaster Services, go to www.brethren.org/genbd/BDM/CDS.
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 almost 130,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.
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For more information contact:
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Director of News Services Church of the Brethren General Board 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 800-323-8039 ext. 260 cobnews@brethren.org
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