June 19, 2008

ELGIN, IL – A certified team of care givers from Children's Disaster Services on June 16 relieved the exhausted volunteers who have staffed CJ's Bus since the recent storms, tornadoes, and flooding began in Indiana. CJ's Bus volunteers had been working to care for children of families affected by the disasters since June 6 in Indianapolis, and then in Martinsville after flooding there.

Kathryn Martin, founder of CJ's Bus, knew of Children's Disaster Services' expertise and volunteer base because the program provides training for CJ's Bus volunteers. The board members of CJ's Bus also are required to become certified with Children's Disaster Services.

When Martin realized that CJ's Bus would have to close down due to the lack of volunteers, she called the Children's Disaster Services offices in Maryland. Could a team from CDS staff the bus so it could stay open for children whose parents were using harsh chemicals to clean up after the flooding?

"It is not a safe environment for the children," Martin emphasized.

Judy Bezon, associate director for Children's Disaster Services, agreed. "Since we already had a team in the area working with the Red Cross and additional volunteers ‘on alert' for the entire midwest, it is no problem to deploy a team," she said.

The team of Children's Disaster Services volunteers was working at CJ's Bus within 24 hours of the request. The team will stay for up to two weeks, then be replaced with a fresh team of new volunteers. With a volunteer base of 500 certified volunteers, Children's Disaster Services can assure that child care be provided to children of disaster victims for as long as it is needed.

Children's Disaster Services is a Church of the Brethren ministry and the oldest and largest nationwide organization specializing in children's disaster related needs. Since 1980, it has maintained a nationwide volunteer base. To be certified with Children's Disaster Services, volunteers require 27 hours of training and a rigorous certification process.

Go to http://www.childrensdisasterservices.org/ to learn more about Children's Disaster Services or for more about becoming trained as a volunteer.

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 more than 125,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

Church of the Brethren News Service