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| UMCOR Hurricane Response Continues with Grants, Volunteers | |||||
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NEW YORK - More than 80,000 Floridians have received assistance from the United Methodist Church as they try to recover from the multiple hurricanes of the season. The United Methodist Committee on Relief and the denomination's Florida Annual (regional) Conference have provided equipment and volunteers for cleanup, as well as monetary grants. Thirty tractor trailers full of cleanup supplies, emergency food and building materials from UMCOR and other United Methodist disaster relief depots have converged on the hardest-hit areas. Volunteers have borrowed church vans and rented commercial trailers to redistribute supplies. Volunteers from 22 states are removing debris, repairing roofs, and clearing out mud and water in hurricane-devastated Florida homes. Nearly 30 percent of the state's United Methodist church buildings have sustained damage. UMCOR also is looking beyond Florida to the Caribbean islands, lashed by the most violent storms in a decade. Hurricane Frances mauled nearly every island in the Bahamas. In response, the agency sent an initial grant to its Methodist partner in the Bahamas for water, shingles, plywood, tarps, medical supplies and emergency food. UMCOR will also help develop long-term recovery plans. In Grenada, where Hurricane Ivan earned the nickname "Ivan the Terrible," the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas, UMCOR's partner, is coordinating recovery efforts. An emergency grant will assist with initial cleanup and repairs and help supply fresh water and food. Mudslides and flash flooding plagued Jamaica in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan. Some residents are still without power or telephone service. UMCOR is discussing response options with its partners there. Long-term recovery will take three to five years, according to the Rev. Kristin L. Sachen, program executive for UMCOR's disaster response. "This is the UMCOR way, having the patience to be the last one out," she said. The agency continues to call for donations of cleaning supplies. Specifications can be found at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor online at the UMCOR Kits link. Gifts of money are also critical, to ensure continued readiness as more hurricanes threaten. Contributions should be earmarked for "Hurricanes 2004," Advance #982410, and can be dropped in church offering plates, or mailed directly to UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Donors who want to use a credit card may call, toll free, (800) 554-8583. |
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