wfn.org | UMNS# 05015-Best way to help relief effort: stay home, make donation,

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Best way to help relief effort: stay home, make donation, agency says

Jan. 7, 2005	 News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*
Nashville {05015}

NOTE: This report may be used as a sidebar to UMNS story #014 at
http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Report
By Kathy L. Gilbert*

In the wake of televised images of the death and destruction in the
tsunami-ravaged countries of South Asia and Africa, many United
Methodists are feeling the need to go and help.

United Methodist Committee on Relief officials are urging those who want
to help to remember that the people in the stricken countries are
feeling the same need and are working to recover from the disaster. And
thousands of people who have been left homeless by the Dec. 26 tsunami
need the jobs that the recovery will bring.

"What is inspiring to me is that the Methodists in all of these areas
are on the frontlines of response, and they are doing the same job we do
when a disaster hits in the United States," said the Rev. Kristin
Sachen, head of UMCOR's disaster response. "God is already present. We
do not need to go there to make God present."

Many skilled people, especially those with medical training, are asking
about volunteer opportunities, she said. "The truth of the matter is, if
you did not have plans already in place before the disaster, it is too
late to decide to go now."

People who do travel to Asia and Africa need to get proper medical
qualifications and figure out where to stay. "You need to think about
whose space you will be taking if you go," she said.

UMCOR is not equipped to deploy medical personnel as volunteers in an
emergency, she said. "In the long-term recovery effort, there may be
opportunities for volunteers; we just can't answer that right now."

For now, the best way to help is to send a donation to UMCOR - and stay
home, officials say.

In addition to volunteer interest, UMCOR has heard much concern about
the children left orphaned by the tsunami. "The native people in these
countries are very concerned about their children," Sachen said. "They
don't want them taken out of the country."

UMCOR has released the following statement about its efforts and needs:

"UMCOR is working closely with its partners, Churches Auxiliary for
Social Action in India, Action by Churches Together in Indonesia, and
the Sri Lanka Council of Churches, to provide survivors with supplies,
fresh water, medicines, temporary shelters and other necessities. Right
now, thousands of local volunteers are assisting the Methodist churches
there to be the heart and hands of United Methodists everywhere.

"The very best option for immediate participation is a gift of cash.
That will assure that United Methodists will continue to have a strong
presence through UMCOR's work in the coming weeks as the recovery effort
unfolds."

Donations to UMCOR's "South Asia Emergency" relief efforts can be placed
in local church offering plates or sent directly to UMCOR, 475 Riverside
Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Designate checks for UMCOR Advance
#274305 and "South Asia Emergency." Online donations can be made by
going to www.methodistrelief.org. Those making credit-card donations can
call (800) 554-8583.

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in
Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org