10/10/2003 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn
A sidebar, UMNS story #486, is available with this report.
A UMNS Report
By Linda Green*
An
American flag survived a tornado that struck Mossy Grove, Tenn.,
leveling the trailer home just 20 yards away. Seven of Tennessee's 17
fatalities occurred in Morgan County, west of Knoxville, as tornadoes
swept across the nation Nov. 9-11, 2002. UMNS photo courtesy of Travis
Dunn with Disaster News Network. Photo number 03-343, Accompanies UMNS
#485, 10/10/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
The
front of Carl Junction (Mo.) United Methodist Church, near Joplin, was
pushed in and much of the roof torn off during a May 4 tornado. At the
time of the storm, nearly 20 people who were in the church for various
events took shelter in the bathrooms. When they emerged, they discovered
the roof of the 7-year-old building was gone. There were no injuries. A
UMNS photo by Fred Koenig. Photo number 03-344, Accompanies UMNS #485,
10/10/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
Red
Cross relief worker Robert Prestenback unloads "Heater Meals" at the
United Methodist Committee on Relief's Sager-Brown Depot in Baldwin,
La., after two tropical storms plowed into Louisiana's coast, sending
people to emergency shelters, causing extensive flooding and damaging
several United Methodist churches. A UMNS photo by Joshua Lewis. Photo
number03-345, Accompanies UMNS #485, 10/10/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
A
May 4 tornado killed two people in the Pierce City, Mo., National Guard
armory. Though the armory is a designated storm shelter, the victims
couldn't reach the basement before the storm struck. A UMNS photo by
Fred Koenig. Photo number 03-346, Accompanies UMNS #485, 10/10/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
A series of major storms has taxed the United
Methodist Church's relief agency, virtually depleting its funds for
responding to future disasters in the United States.
The United
Methodist Committee on Relief is launching a churchwide appeal Oct. 19
to replenish its funds. Agency leaders are urging local churches to take
an offering on that date or soon after.
Storms during the past
16 months have left the agency with less than $100,000 for undesignated
disaster response in the United States.
Since last year, UMCOR
has provided $1.5 million to annual conferences for relief and response
work. Annual conferences are asking UMCOR for another $1.1 million to
continue existing recovery programs in response to storms in the South
and Midwest. Additional funds are needed to address the devastation
caused by Hurricane Isabel, which struck the East Coast in September.
Based
on previous appeals, UMCOR anticipates raising more than $2 million,
though agency officials say the need in the annual conferences could
exceed that.
Louisiana is one of many states where UMCOR provides
ongoing recovery help. Hurricanes Isidore and Lilly struck the state
within days of each other in October 2002, destroying farmland and
homes.
"The United Methodist Committee on Relief is a way in
which our faith is put into concrete action," said Louisiana Bishop
William Hutchinson. "It is a way in which our beliefs are transmitted to
the general public, and it is a way to help people recover from things
not necessarily of their own making. UMCOR is a way for us to be
responsible to God as we are called to be a servant and care for other
people."
The agency is appealing to church members for money
"because the vast majority of our donations are specifically designated
for a particular Advance and we cannot use them (the money) for this
purpose," said the Rev. Kristin Sachen, a UMCOR staff executive. The
Advance is a churchwide program that raises money for a wide range of
ministries and mission work.
The appeal money, Sachen said, would
be used to fund programs developed by annual conference disaster
response teams. UMCOR helps conferences assist the most vulnerable
through long-term case management and volunteer building and repair
teams.
UMCOR is funded through the proceeds from the annual One
Great Hour of Sharing offering, taken the fourth Sunday during Lent, and
not by apportionments, she said. "Our capacity to respond to the
forgotten disasters is determined by the availability of undesignated
funds. We don't want any annual conference to be forgotten." The annual
offering raises 27 cents per church member for UMCOR, she said.
United
Methodists should respond to the appeal because "UMCOR is one of the
longest-serving disaster recovery bodies that is on site," Hutchinson
said. While other groups come in immediately and then leave, "UMCOR is
there for the long term and does a tremendous amount of work over a long
period of time. This is where the long-term effects of helping people
in their lives takes place."
UMCOR, he added, "puts our faith in action and puts our concern for people and their lives on the front burner."
Since
May, severe weather systems have brought tornados, floods and
hurricanes to numerous parts of the United States, leaving behind major
damage and exposing the most vulnerable. The events brought death,
injuries, damage and destruction to homes, businesses and crops.
Sachen said the UMCOR appeal has four objectives: ·
To make United Methodists "aware of the situation facing brothers and
sisters in the U.S. who have been devastated by disasters that the rest
of us have forgotten." · To build an awareness leading to a
"compassionate response" in the form of money or material help for the
UMCOR Sager Brown Depot in Louisiana, as well as encourage volunteer
help for United Methodist-related recovery organizations. · To
enable UMCOR to fund annual conference efforts to "provide compassionate
ministry to those in their midst who are living in deplorable
conditions." · To affirm United Methodists as part of a connectional church that supports people in times of need.
Donations
can be designated for "Churchwide Appeal for USA Domestic Disasters,"
UMCOR Advance No. 901670. Checks can be made to UMCOR and placed in
church offering plates or sent to the agency at 475 Riverside Drive,
Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card donors can call (800)
554-8583, and online donations can be made at
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/. # # # *Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer.
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