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In Today's Hotline:Read how UMCOR is responding to needs around the world: US: Tornado Response; CHILE: Flood Recovery; US: Church Learns About Child Labor; EVENT: Anti-Hunger Concert; RESOURCES: Nets and Knowledge - New Photo Slide Show
UMCOR provided emergency assistance following the April 10 tornado which struck the southeast including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and the Carolinas.
The 136 mph twister, was part of a string of severe storms that destroyed 500 homes and structures throughout seven counties. In Mena, Arkansas, more than 150 homes were damaged. Murfreesboro, Tennessee was especially hard hit with an estimated 250 homes damaged. Three teams from the Tennessee Annual Conference have responded with clean up efforts and others from the Memphis Annual Conference are on standby.
While assessment is ongoing, volunteer teams are needed for clean up.Those interested in volunteering should call Don Weeks at 501-681-2909 or email dweeks@arumc.org. For general inquiries, call Maxine Allen at 501-539-0280 or email mallen@arumc.org. You can support this effort by giving to Domestic Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #901670.
In September, 2008, heavy rains and floods damaged hundreds of homes and farming communities, affecting 300 families in Mapuches, southern Chile. Homes and vegetable gardens were completely destroyed along with several small animal farms.
UMCOR responded with an emergency grant to help Obra Rural Methodist Church provide relief to the affected families. The families received food, clothes, medicine and seeds as well as love and support from church staff. The local community school in Mapuches served as a shelter to house the families and their children.
You can help bring relief and recovery to those affected by natural disasters or conflict by giving to International Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #982450.
US: CHURCH LEARNS ABOUT CHILD LABOR
On Palm Sunday, April 5, the church members of Beach Lake United Methodist Church in Pennsylvania watched a short film about child labor abuse in cocoa producing farms in Africa.
Beach Lake UMC's Pastor Mark Terwilliger felt it was important to educate his congregation about the issue and encouraged them to take action by buying fair trade products as an alternative. One congregant was especially moved by the film and will now encourage her students in school to sell Equal Exchange chocolate for an upcoming fundraiser.
The US imports 50 percent of its cocoa from the Ivory Coast in West Africa where thousands of children, as young as five years old are trafficked into slavery. Fair trade cocoa is bought from democratically-run small-farmer co-operatives and prohibits child labor or slave labor practices.
UMCOR's 100-Ton Challenge ends May 10. Choose to buy fair trade now, and give to UMCOR's SA&D-Program, UMCOR Advance #982188.
The Interfaith Anti-Hunger Directors, a group of leaders from major denominations and faith communities in the US, including UMCOR, is organizing a concert on May 7, 2009 in New York City at St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church beginning at 8:00 p.m.
United Methodists stirred up coffee and cocoa purchases by 19 percent from 2007, totaling over $1.3 million in sales. Through your support, UMCOR is the single largest partnership for sales in volume with its partner Equal Exchange.
The live concert will be part of an initiative to encourage the interfaith community to come together, raise hunger awareness and encourage a call-to-action to end hunger and poverty around the world. Neshama Carlebach, a Jewish singer is one of the featured artists who will be performing with an African American choir.
The concert is free and an offering will be collected to support the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, a food pantry founded and operated by St. Paul and St. Andrew UMC. For more information, click here. You may also give to World Hunger and Poverty, UMCOR Advance #982920.
RESOURCES: NETS AND KNOWLEDGE - NEW PHOTO SLIDE SHOW
Communities near Ganta United Methodist Hospital in Liberia, learn about the importance and proper use of mosquito nets to prevent malaria. The UMCOR-supported Malaria Control Program offers group discussions, outreach programs and educational workshops to provide people with the truth about malaria, its causes and lifesaving prevention techniques.
World Malaria Day is April 25. Learn more about this work, by viewing Nets and Knowledge, UMCOR's new photo slide show, or help by giving to Community-Based Malaria Program, UMCOR Advance #982009.
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. ]
