wfn.org | United Church Launches Appeal For Caribbean Hurricane Relief

["Broadhurst, Tom" <tbroadhu@united-church.ca>]

News Release - Wednesday, September 17, 2008

UNITED CHURCH LAUNCHES APPEAL FOR CARIBBEAN HURRICANE RELIE F

Toronto: The United Church of Canada announced today that  it is
launching an emergency financial appeal for hurricane relie f. The appeal
focuses on Haiti, Cuba, and other Caribbean countries tha t are suffering
the consequence of a series of hurricanes that have pas sed through the
region in recent weeks.

Hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike have left as man y as one million
Haitians homeless and more than 500 dead. Serious floodin g was reported
in many areas, and Haiti's agricultural capacity is dange rously
compromised.

In Cuba, because of strong civil defence capacity, only  seven people
were killed. But houses and other buildings, together wit h the
agricultural sector, were seriously damaged. Cuban news age ncies report
that the path of destruction stretches for more than a  thousand
kilometres across the island. At least 30,000 families ha ve lost their
homes; another 320,000 homes have suffered serious damage.  Agriculture
has been severely affected. Preliminary reports indicate "c olossal
losses" in the production of bananas, corn (maize), sugar  cane, coffee,
yucca, guava, avocados, and poultry.

In addition, serious damage was reported in Bahamas, Turk s and Caicos
Islands, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and a long the Gulf
Coast of the United States.

The United Church has already committed $50,000 in immedi ate
humanitarian aid. These funds will be used to support r elief and
reconstruction efforts of the church's partners in the re gion. The
church hopes that donations to the Caribbean Hurricane Ap peal will far
exceed this amount, thus enabling the church to increase  its capacity to
respond to this humanitarian crisis.

As always with United Church emergency appeals, 100 perce nt of all
donations received will be committed to support relief an d
reconstruction work for people in need. There is no adm inistration fee
deducted. This is made possible thanks to the generous  ongoing support
of United Church members to the church's Mission and Se rvice (M&S) Fund.
Contributions to M&S allow the United Church to absorb  the staffing and
operating costs of processing donations for emergency appea ls.

In the case of designated gifts for emergency appeals s uch as the
Caribbean Hurricane Relief, the church does allocate 15 p ercent of
donations to replenish the Emergency Response Fund. These  monies are
used exclusively to enable the United Church to immediate ly respond to
current and future emergency needs of people in crisis  around the world.

Individuals are invited to contribute to this emergency a ppeal through
their local congregation, directly to The United Church o f Canada's
national office (3250 Bloor St. West, Suite 300, Toronto,  ON  M8X 2Y4),
or through our secure online donations page at
www.united-church.ca/getinvolved/donate. Cheques and online donat ions
should be made payable to The United Church of Canada  and marked
"Emergency Response: Caribbean Hurricane Relief."

All funds received will be treated as "designated gifts."  Please note
that designated gifts cannot be counted toward a congrega tion's M&S Fund
credits. However, they are eligible for tax receipts. Con gregational
treasurers may receive and receipt individual cheques and  then forward
one congregational cheque to The United Church of Canada' s national
office.

Church members are also being encouraged to continue to  support the
Mission and Service Fund, which contributes to the ongoin g work of
United Church partners in the Caribbean and makes possibl e the United
Church's long history of connection with the people of  Haiti and Cuba.

Further information about the United Church's response to  this
humanitarian crisis in the Caribbean is being posted on  the United
Church's website (www.united-church.ca) and will be updated  as new
information becomes available.

For further information please contact:

>Mary-Frances Denis
>Communications Officer
>The United Church of Canada
>Tel: 416-231-7680 ext. 2016
>Toll-free: 1-800-268-3781 ext. 2016
>E-mail: mdenis@united-church.ca

>--30--

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