wfn.org | CWS issues emergency call for Hygiene, Baby Kits

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Media Contact:

Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin, (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net

> For Immediate Release

People urged to contribute disaster kits during National Day of
Service

Church World Service issues emergency call for Hygiene, Baby Kits

NEW YORK-Jan. 15, 2009--As the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day
of Service on January 18 approaches, humanitarian agency Church World
Service is encouraging people to respond to the day's call by
contributing donations and community volunteer work dedicated to  relief
efforts for survivors of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti.

New York-headquartered CWS has issued an urgent national appeal for
donations of CWS hygiene and baby care kits, asking individuals,
families and religious and civic groups to join in local efforts to
assemble CWS  Kits for distribution to survivors of the earthquake and
other global disasters.

With hundreds of thousands of people homeless in Haiti following the
devastating earthquake, the agency says the need for Kits is immediate.
Supplies and hygiene and medical resources of all kinds still are
desperately lacking in the country.

"When a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti hits, we have to
replenish supplies very quickly so that we can both assist survivors and
also have supplies on hand to help victims of other disasters that might
occur, said the Rev. John McCullough, executive director and CEO of
Church World Service.

While the assembling of Hygiene and Baby Care Kits is a project
tailor-made for the National Day of Service, particularly at a time when
Haitian earthquake survivors are in desperate need of basic necessities,
it actually is a year-round activity for Church World Service
supporters.  The Kits make their way from the hands of volunteers to the
agency's warehouse in New Windsor, Maryland, where they are inspected
and finally shipped.

"We have groups in churches, mosques, temples and other civic
organizations throughout the country that assemble Hygiene Kits and
other Kits on an ongoing basis.  That helps assure that there always are
thousands of them ready to be shipped to people living in poverty and
people stripped of all their possessions in disasters," said Cindy
Watson, associate for congregational programs at Church World Service.

The Kits are a small but vital part of the emergency relief,
sustainable development and refugee assistance CWS has provided over its
more than 60 years of service.

The one-gallon-bag-sized packets of hygiene and baby care supplies, or
School Kits for young students, are an important lifeline for people
with little or nothing as the cope in the aftermath of disaster.  A
toothbrush, a comb and bar of soap or diapers and baby blanket seem like
priceless gifts.

CWS has provided  Kits to help survivors of disastrous situations
ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the Indian Ocean tsunami and the war
in Iraq.

In 2009 alone, Church World Service shipped 288,745 Hygiene Kits, Baby
Care Kits, School Kits and Emergency Clean-up Buckets, with a value of
$413,295.50, to 17 countries and to several U.S. states ravaged by
floods, tornadoes and spring storms.

"We could not provide this assistance without the generous
contributions of people eager to lend a helping hand.  For years we've
been fortunate in having churches, temples, mosques, youth groups and
civic organizations all across the United States come together with
friends and neighbors to assemble all kinds of CWS kits, said
McCullough.

In a situation like Haiti, McCullough added, "It's better to donate
cash, rather than contributing material goods. But still, people want to

give of themselves, to give something they've touched, in addition to
their cash donations. In this economy, where many Americans are pressed
financially, collecting the small items for emergency kits and
assembling them in a group, is one way to fill both the heart's needs
and the needs of the survivors.

"The National Day of Service in honor of Dr. King's legacy presents
an opportunity for individuals, congregations and groups who havenâ??t
been involved before to answer the call to action by taking on the
assembling of kits as a service project on January 18 and beyond,â??
McCullough said.  "This is a way for all of us to reach out with a
simple gesture of love and care."

Each CWS Hygiene Kit is valued at $10 and Baby Care Kits are
valued at $39. Contributors are also asked to send an additional $2 per
Kit for processing and shipping.

Information about the CWS Kit program, including Kit component
lists, direct shipping or pick-up instructions is available online at

www.churchworldservice.org/kitshttp://www.churchworldservice.org/site/PageSe rver?pagename=kits_main

or call Church World Service, toll free (888) 297-2767.

> ###

> Church World Service
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> New York, NY 10115
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