United Methodist cash gifts for Katrina exceed $2.6 million
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Courtesy of FEMA/Mark Wolfe
Damage and destruction to houses are evident throughout Biloxi, Miss.
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Damage
and destruction to houses are evident throughout Biloxi, Miss. Photo
courtesy of FEMA/Mark Wolfe. Photo #05H056. Accompanies UMNS story #494,
9/6/05, and #508, 9/14/05
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Sept. 14, 2005 By Elliott Wright* NEW
YORK (UMNS) — Cash contributions to the United Methodist Committee on
Relief for Hurricane Katrina relief and rehabilitation totaled $2.6
million as of Sept. 13. That
amount includes gifts made by Internet and telephone donors, and two
days of checks received by mail, according to Roland Fernandes,
treasurer of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. UMCOR is
part of the international mission agency. Fernandes
said he has been asked to make comparisons between cash contributions
to Katrina relief and donation following the tsunami that struck in
South Asia at the end of last year. He
said he was hesitant to make any such comparisons because it is very
soon after Katrina and because the situations are different. UMCOR
received more than $40 million over a six-month period for tsunami
relief and rebuilding. “Donating
money was one of the few avenues open to people who wanted to respond
to the tsunami disaster,” Fernandes explained. “Many responses are
possible to the ravages of Katrina. In addition to cash contributions,
church members in the U.S.A. are also providing great amounts of
material goods, volunteering for post-hurricane cleanup, caring for
displaced persons, and spending money to help people within their own
communities and regions. “We
are enormously grateful to United Methodists for the many ways in which
they are fulfilling their Christian responsibilities in the wake of the
hurricane,” he added. Donations to support the United Methodist response to the Hurricane Katrina tragedy can be made online at www.methodistrelief.org
and by phone at (800) 554-8583. Checks can be written to UMCOR,
designated for “Hurricanes 2005 Global,” Advance No. 982523, and left in
church offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New
York, NY 10087-9068. *Wright is the communications officer for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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