September 23, 2005

ELGIN, IL – Looking at the new numbers of hurricane evacuees, the Church of the Brethren director of Emergency Response has issued a call to support local food pantries as another way to support the hurricane relief efforts. Roy Winter, director of Emergency Response for the Church of the Brethren General Board, explained that many food banks across the country have contributed food to the hurricane relief effort through America's Second Harvest.

America's Second Harvest is a food bank network that serves as a coordinating organization for most local food banks, and is the largest hunger relief organization in the US (see http://www.secondharvest.org/). Now, local food bank shelves have been depleted by the response to Katrina, and communities need to help restock them, Winter said.

He also explained that the Church of the Brethren response has coordinated with other Christian denominations and nonprofit organizations – such as America's Second Harvest, the American Red Cross, Church World Service, and others – who have developed expertise in particular areas of disaster response. "We are trying not to duplicate the services of other churches and organizations like Second Harvest, because they are doing them well," Winter said. "It helps the whole process to work together."

He and his staff have focused their efforts in areas in which the Brethren have expertise as well. The four-pronged Church of the Brethren response includes grants from the Emergency Disaster Fund; warehousing and shipping of relief materials from the Brethren Service Center by the Service Ministries program; Disaster Child Care; and repair and rebuilding efforts by the Disaster Response Program.

Winter also called on Brethren to maintain an understanding of the bigger picture and continue support for survivors of other disasters. "There are other needs out there, some other disasters that need to be responded to," he said, naming in particular the ongoing Brethren rebuilding projects in Florida and Ohio that still need volunteers. There also is a clean-up and repair project in Alabama in response to Hurricane Katrina.

"The main focus of the Disaster Response Program is longterm recovery," said Brethren Disaster Response coordinator Jane Yount, "and `longterm' can mean months or even years. So, the question is not whether you can go three days after the disaster, but rather can you go three months or a year after the disaster – after the media blitz is over and the survivors start wondering whether anyone still cares."

This weekend, Winter will be at the Brethren Disaster Auction in Lebanon, Pa., where the number of Gift of the Heart Health Kits that organizers expect to assemble throughout the day Saturday has been upped to 25,000 from 20,000. That seems like a lot of health kits, Winter acknowledged. But looking at the situation in the Gulf Coast in anticipation of the arrival of Rita, he said with a sigh, "We'll probably use them all."

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.

Church of the Brethren Newsline