wfn.org | UMNS# 05049-Giving to UMCOR tsunami relief exceeds $4 million

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Giving to UMCOR tsunami relief exceeds $4 million

Jan. 20, 2005	 News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New
York {05049}

NOTE: Related articles and resources are available online at
http://umns.umc.org.

By Elliott Wright*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Contributions to the United Methodist Committee on
Relief for Asian tsunami relief passed the $4 million mark during the
Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

"We are still opening checks," said Roland Fernandes, treasurer of the
United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, the parent organization of
UMCOR.

The death toll from the tidal waves that swept the Indian Ocean the day
after Christmas reached 220,000 on Jan. 19.

"The outpouring of love and concern in the form of dollars is deeply
touching," said the Rev. R. Randy Day, chief executive of the mission
board. Two days earlier, he had returned from Indonesia, the hardest hit
of the 12 countries swept by the gigantic waves.

Contributions included in the $4 million figure are primarily from
telephone and online credit-card donations and checks sent directly to
UMCOR.

Fernandes said this included some but by no means all of the money given
through local church collections and forwarded through denominational
channels. He noted a significant slowdown in online contributions in
recent days. "This is quite natural as we move away from the immediate
emotional impact of the tragedy," he said.

Day and a delegation of United Methodist mission and communications
leaders visited the island of Sumatra, near the epicenter of the
earthquake that caused the tsunamis, on Jan. 11-16. The group took more
than 100,000 doses of medicine for tsunami survivors.

UMCOR is engaged in both immediate and long-term relief and
rehabilitation in the affected area. Its work is coordinated with that
of other Methodist and humanitarian agencies, and it puts a high
priority on collaboration with local efforts and personnel.

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 at
www.methodistrelief.org. Those making credit-card donations can call
(800) 554-8583.

# # #

*Wright is the information officer of the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

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

United Methodist News Service
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