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In Today's Hotline:
- US: Help in Ike Recovery
- HAITI: Food and Toys for Orphans
- MIDDLE EAST: Helping Iraqi Refugees
- SUDAN: Providing Classroons
- LIBERIA: Bees Help Farmers
United Methodist churches are teaming up to help communities in Texas recover from Hurricane Ike. As this work continues, financial resources are needed to help in recovery for the years ahead.
According to the Rev. Cynthia Harvey, director of missional excellence for the Texas Annual Conference, 83 volunteer teams have registered online to support recovery efforts. More than 60 United Methodist churches are serving as Red Cross shelters, hosting and dispatching volunteers to areas most in need and teams are assembling flood bucket supplies. Sam Dixon, UMCOR's top executive, met with Texas Conference officials last week to discuss plans for future recovery response and to organize relief and response phases for both churches and communities.
Financial resources are limited and it's affecting UMCOR's ability to effectively respond. Your financial support is greatly needed to aid in recovery work. Send your gifts to Hurricanes 2008, UMCOR Advance # 3019695.
HAITI: FOOD AND TOYS FOR ORPHANS
UMCOR is working through its office in Cap Haitien to provide short and long-term needs to those affected by recent hurricanes in the northern region of Haiti and in Gonave Island.
In Port au Prince, UMCOR staff distributed food packages and toy bags to more than 500 children who are orphans and their families. An additional 80 bags of toys and food were sent to Real Hope for Haiti, an evangelical non-profit organization committed to reaching Haitian people. The event was broadcasted on the radio citing a tribute to the excellent work conducted by the UMCOR staff.
UMCOR is also helping Haiti with the delivery of health and school kits, potable water, stoves and building materials to help in recovery. You can support this work by giving generously to Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325.
MIDDLE EAST: HELPING IRAQI REFUGEES
In Syria, the rising cost of living is putting a strain on Iraqi refugees and their ability to provide for their families. Bread costs have risen 35 percent, real estate is up 40 percent and rent prices have doubled. UMCOR is providing food packages and relief supplies to the most vulnerable.
UMCOR is working with the International Blue Crescent Humanitarian Relief and Development Foundation to provide food packages for 800 refugee families situated in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, and Hamahand Lattakia districts with no means of livelihood including the elderly or those with physical disabilities. Cash donations, start-up kits, hygiene materials and school materials will be provided to the most vulnerable.
More than 34 percent of refugee families do not have the means to survive economically for more than one month. You gifts to Middle East Emergency, UMCOR Advance #601740 will help this work continue and provide sustenance for those most in need.
In Darfur, kindergarten classes are scarce. Those that exist are mostly conducted under trees or in makeshift rooms that are not well canopied to prevent scorching from the sun. UMCOR is building secure comfortable learning environments for children to enhance their learning experience.
In South Darfur, UMCOR is building 17 classrooms including providing furniture and learning materials for 330 preschool children in Al Daein and Adilla. In addition to providing black boards, exercise books, chairs, pencils, recreation equipment and constructing latrines, UMCOR has selected 17 qualified kindergarten caregivers and teachers to provide management support over these classes.
Education, in the right environment, alleviates the emotional impact of conflict and disaster experienced by these children. Help give the children in Darfur a sense of stability, structure and hope for the future by giving to Sudan Emergency, UMCOR Advance #184385.
"Beekeeping brought me to where I am," says Victor Kpe, 51, UMCOR's top beekeeper trainer. Before participating in beekeeping through UMCOR's Sustainable Agriculture and Development Program (SA&D), Kpe was struggling to put food on the table and support his wife and five children. He was also extremely shy. With UMCOR-SA&D staff mentoring and support, Kpe now confidently trains others in Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He lives in a new home and can afford to send his children to school and provide healthcare for his family.
World Food Day is Oct. 16. Observe this day by helping more farmers support their families through beekeeping. UMCOR's new photo slideshow - Beekeeping in Liberia, offers a glimpse into the beekeeping harvesting process - from hive to honey bottle. You can also help by giving to Sustainable Agriculture and Development Program, UMCOR Advance #982188.
UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. You can also give online at givetomission.org. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.
United Methodist Committee on Relief
General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church
Room 330, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115
Voice Phone: 1-212-870-3816; FAX: 1-212-870-3624
Email: umcor@gbgm-umc.org
Web: http://www.umcor.org
UMCOR. Be There. Be Hope.
UMCOR's mission is to alleviate human suffering-whether caused by war, conflict, or natural disaster-with open minds and hearts to all people.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
