May 24, 2012

ELGIN, IL – Brethren Disaster Ministries has received an Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) grant for $17,000 to continue its work in Arab, Ala., following an EF 4 tornado that hit the town on April 27 last year. In another recent EDF grant, $8,000 has been given to aid food security in the Sahel region of north Africa.

In other news from Brethren Disaster Ministries, associate director Zach Wolgemuth has been elected to the board of National VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster).

At the rebuilding project site in Alabama, in the area of Arab, more than 200 volunteers have given more than 1,400 days of service to build two new homes and repair 20 others. Brethren Disaster Ministries' current case load includes one additional new home and approximately six home repairs. The grant will underwrite operational expenses related to volunteer support including housing, food, and travel expenses incurred onsite as well as volunteer training, tools, and equipment needed for rebuilding and repair. Previous EDF allocations to the project total $30,000.

The allocation of $8,000 responds to a Church World Service (CWS) appeal following unusually low rainfall, low crop production, and food insecurity in the Sahel region of north Africa. Also a factor in the food insecurity is political strife/violence in north and west Africa. This complex humanitarian crisis affects more than 15 million people. The Church of the Brethren grant supports CWS as it leads a response to the emergency working with partner organization Christian Aid in providing emergency food assistance, seeds, and other emergency assistance to more than 83,000 people in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Senegal.

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 celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

Newsline: Church of the Brethren New Service