July 3, 2008
By Susan Meister

Teresa Daniels of Oakland, Ill., has a message for United Methodists who donate tools and cleaning supplies to fill five-gallon pails for storm relief.

"I love flood buckets!" she exclaimed.

Oakland is a rural community of about 1,000 people and is located miles from a major river. But after 12 inches of rain fell June 7, its storm drains backed up, and homes all over town flooded.

In the storm's wake, flood buckets were shipped to Oakland on June 11 from the Midwest Mission Distribution Center in Chatham, Ill., after a request from Judy Doyle, disaster response coordinator for the United Methodist Illinois Great Rivers Annual (regional) Conference, and Bunny Wolfe, missions and outreach coordinator.

"The flood buckets kept us going and gave us hope," said Daniels. "It meant so much that somebody outside our community cared enough to donate the items and deliver those buckets."

The heavy rains and subsequent flooding in Oakland were part of a stormy late spring that has caused widespread flooding in parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.

"To date, we have sent over 5,000 flood buckets to areas around the Midwest," said the Rev. Tom Hazelwood, an executive with the United Methodist Committee on Relief. "We are preparing for volunteers and long-term case management with our partners. This recovery will likely take years, and we need resources to undergird our response."

UMCOR has issued an urgent appeal for additional flood buckets or donations to help replenish its supplies, especially since the Atlantic hurricane season is just beginning.

"Our current supplies are dangerously low," explained Kathy Kraiza, director of UMCOR's Sager Brown distribution center in Baldwin, La. "We want to be fully prepared when the need arises. With generous donations now, we can be assured of being able to respond after the next flood or hurricane."

‘Everything we need'

At $45 per bucket, the flood buckets include supplies ranging from bleach and dust masks to sponges and clothespins. A list of contents is available at -umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/flood- bucket/>http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/flood-bucket/.

"The flood buckets have everything we need," said Daniels, who has been assisting neighbors whose houses flooded. "The rubber gloves, garbage bags, masks, extra rags. ... I've worn out that scrub brush. The mud sticks to everything.

"People don't understand," she continued. "You drive by and everything looks all right, but you can't see the damage inside."

How to help

United Methodists are urged to be part of the recovery by sending completed flood buckets, bulk materials or a contribution to purchase supplies. Financial contributions can be made at http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=901440&id=3018981/.

To donate to UMCOR's work in the Midwest, drop checks in church offering plates or mail them directly to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. Write Advance #901670 Domestic Disaster Response, Midwest Floods, on the memo line. Credit-card donations can be made by calling (800) 554-8583 or at http://www.givetomission.org/.

Up to 10 percent of gifts for Midwest flooding may be used to repair United Methodist churches and their facilities that were not insured for their catastrophic losses.

United Methodist News Service
Susan Meister is the domestic disaster response correspondent for UMCOR.