News Archives

United Methodists begin Hurricane Ivan relief efforts

 


United Methodists begin Hurricane Ivan relief efforts

Sept. 22, 2004

By United Methodist News Service*

LINK: Click to open full size version of image
A UMNS photo by Meredyth Earnest

Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster helps carry supplies into Perdido Bay (Fla.) United Methodist Church.
Alabama and the Florida panhandle are in desperate need of work teams to assist in the Hurricane Ivan cleanup, according to the area’s United Methodist bishop.

"We are thankful for the calls and offers of assistances from other annual (regional) conferences and churches," said Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster, who is based in Montgomery, Ala. "Even beyond the damage that the churches are suffering is the total devastation of an entire area of our conference from Gulf Shores, Ala., to Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Entire areas are simply wiped out."

After ravaging the Caribbean, Hurricane Ivan made landfall near Mobile, Ala., early on Sept. 16 and then pushed its high winds, heavy rains and tornados northward. Ivan and its related storms have been blamed for more than 50 deaths in the United States and 70 deaths in the Caribbean.

Initial damage assessments by the United Methodist Church’s Alabama-West Florida Annual (regional) Conference and United Methodist Committee on Relief indicate that work teams are needed immediately for cleanup in Atmore and Brewton in Alabama and Pensacola, Perdido Bay, Perdido Key and Gulf Breeze in Florida.

Volunteer teams are asked to contact the Alabama-West Florida Conference disaster center in Mobile, Ala., which was to be operational Sept. 22. The Rev. Clyde Pressley is the center’s coordinator. Volunteers can call, toll free, (866) 340-1956 for work location assignments and housing information.

Work teams are expected to be self-sustaining and to bring work materials and tools, along with food, water, towels, bedding and personal hygiene products. The housing locations will provide sleeping quarters and bathroom and kitchen facilities.

All United Methodist churches in the Pensacola area sustained damage from Hurricane Ivan, according to conference officials. Several dozen church families lost everything, including their homes.

Local congregations are responding to relief needs in their communities by serving meals, providing pastoral care and child care for hurricane victims, and supporting relief workers and utility crews. A number of churches are serving as Red Cross shelters.

LINK: Click to open full size version of image
A UMNS photo by Meredyth Earnest

Volunteers clean up Gonzalez (Fla.) United Methodist Church's fellowship hall.
"I am extremely proud of how United Methodists are responding in the midst of crisis," Goodpaster said. "Even when, many times, they have damage to their own homes and are living under extreme anxiety, they are offering themselves to the community."

A 119-member church in the Pensacola District, Elizabeth’s Chapel, has fed 1,500 people a day. Gulf Breeze (Fla.) United Methodist Church, a Red Cross shelter, is serving three hot meals a day to victims and recovery personnel, and the Perdido Bay (Fla.) United Methodist Church has provided a number of outreach ministries to the community while operating under an emergency generator.

The United Methodist congregation in Excel, Ala., is feeding the community, and the Atmore (Ala.) First United Methodist Church is distributing food, water and other materials.

UMCOR, the denomination’s relief agency, has provided an initial grant to Alabama-West Florida to help it dispense food, water and ice and begin recovery efforts. Distribution centers for materials such as flood buckets and cleanup kits have been established at Blue Lake United Methodist Assembly in Andalusia, Ala., First United Methodist Church in Pensacola and the Gulf Breeze church.

Alabama-West Florida also is networking with the Florida Conference to coordinate resources. Updated information on the relief work will be posted at www.awfumc.org, the conference’s Web site.

In the Caribbean, UMCOR emergency field staff will assess damage from Hurricane Ivan in Grenada and Jamaica as soon as commercial air traffic resumes. In Cuba and the Bahamas, UMCOR has provided grants for relief supplies, emergency shelter and building materials.

Methodist churches in St. George, St. Paul, Woburn and Grenville on the island of Grenada received hurricane damage, and the church in Constantine was destroyed, according to information from the Methodist Church in Britain. Both the British church and Methodist Church in Ireland said they would make a significant response for relief and reconstruction efforts in the Caribbean.

UMCOR continues to need donations of flood buckets, used by volunteers to clean up post-hurricane debris and water. Specifications are at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor online.

Donations to fund United Methodist assistance for hurricane relief can be made by check, credit card or an online commitment.

Gifts to UMCOR Advance No. 982410, Hurricanes 2004, may be designated for specific regions affected by this season’s hurricanes or simply to "where most needed." Contributions can be placed in church offering plates, mailed directly to UMCOR, 475

Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115; or charged onto credit cards by calling (800) 554-8583. Online donations can be made at MethodistRelief.org.

Jeanne, another tropical storm, has caused flooding and mudslides in Haiti, resulting in more than 700 deaths as of Sept. 21. Most of the deaths occurred in the coastal city of Gonaives. UMCOR expects to partner with Action by Churches Together, the international alliance of humanitarian aid organizations, to provide emergency food, tarpaulins and other relief supplies in Haiti.

*Meredyth Earnest, director of communications for the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference, provided information for this report.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

Ask Now

This will not reach a local church, district or conference office. InfoServ* staff will answer your question, or direct it to someone who can provide information and/or resources.

First Name:*
Last Name:*
Email:*
ZIP/Postal Code:*
Question:*

*InfoServ ( about ) is a service of United Methodist Communications located in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 1-800-251-8140

Not receiving a reply?
Your Spam Blocker might not recognize our email address. Add this address to your list of approved senders.

Would you like to ask any questions about this story?ASK US NOW


Contact Us

This will not reach a local church, district or conference office. InfoServ* staff will answer your question, or direct it to someone who can provide information and/or resources.

Phone
(optional)

*InfoServ ( about ) is a ministry of United Methodist Communications located in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 1-800-251-8140

Not receiving a reply?
Your Spam Blocker might not recognize our email address. Add InfoServ@umcom.org to your list of approved senders.