wfn.org | Church Has Given a Record $1.1 Million For Hurricane Mitch Relief

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21-January-1999 
99026 
 
    Disaster Officials Say Church Has Given a Record 
    $1.1 Million For Hurricane Mitch Relief 
 
    by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Giving for the victims of Hurricane Mitch through the 
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) passed the $1.1 million mark just two months 
into the campaign - a record response for an international disaster. 
 
    To date, $928,500 of the money has been spent, according to Susan Ryan, 
coordinator of the denomination's disaster network. 
 
    Some has gone for the hiring of additional staff to do rehabilitation 
work in ecumenical agencies in Nicaragua and Honduras, so that other 
ministries are not interrupted. Some has been used to buy vehicles to 
transport workers and materials into heavily flooded areas. PC(USA) dollars 
also have supported ecumenical shipments of food, blankets and other 
supplies to Central America. 
 
    Ryan said 400 work teams are being supported jointly by PC(USA) and 
Church World Service (CWS), the relief arm of the National Council of 
Churches (NCC). She said the church will send teams directly to flooded 
areas targeted for help by the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of 
Guatemala. At least two years' worth of rebuilding remains to be done, she 
said. 
 
    Hurricane Mitch stalled over Central America last fall, killing more 
than 10,000 people and destroying the homes of more than a million. It is 
not yet known with certainty how many people disappeared in the rains that 
covered entire towns with water, mud and rock. 
 
    "This isn't going to end at a million," said Rev. Dan Rift, associate 
director of Global Service and Witness, an arm of the Worldwide Ministries 
Division. "We have a million accounted for, and there are still checks 
upstairs. This is the most rapid response ... for any international crisis 
since the Ethiopian (famine) crisis in the mid-1980s." 
 
    Denominational disaster officials attribute the record response to 
massive media attention, strong U.S. ties to Nicaragua and Honduras dating 
back to the 1980s, and the development of quicker ways to get money into 
the disaster network. 
 
    "We've got a significant number of mission workers in those regions, 
with substantial mailing lists," Ryan said. "I believe this international 
disaster [felt] almost the same as a U.S. disaster ... to them." 
 
    Rift agreed: "There is just such high connection with that region 
[within the church]. I talked with more people in this crisis who said, `I 
was in this community,' or `This person I know lives there and I wonder how 
they are.' By far, that is the biggest reason." 
 
    The PC(USA) now accepts Visa or MasterCard donations over PresbyTel 
lines (1-800-872-3283). Ryan said many congregations took up offerings and 
sent checks directly to the disaster network. "Very early on, then, we were 
able to send generously to our partners," he said. 
 
    The disaster network also maintains a web site that posts both needs 
and work opportunities, at http://www.pcusa.org/pda. 
 
    "My experience is that giving for Hurricane Mitch will continue," Rift 
told the Presbyterian News Service. "We're still processing gifts that come 
at the end of the year. We've not closed the book on receipts. We've got 
open opportunities for people to be involved in rebuilding." 
 
    Presbyterian giving for disaster relief historically has been higher 
for U.S. disasters. Givers sent $3 million for recovery from Hurricane 
Andrew and from the Midwest flooding. 
 
    The account number for Tropical Storm Relief is #9-2000139. 

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