One Great Hour of Sharing is March 14
Zimbabwe, in southern Africa, is going through one of the worst economic crises in history. So, when more than 400 Zimbabwean children in rural areas received school kits from UMCOR to help them prepare for classes, there were shouts of joy. The items in the school kits packed and sent by United Methodists are humble by U.S. standards, yet priceless to the children who receive them.
When you give to One Great Hour of Sharing, you maximize the effectiveness of distributions such as this. Your gift helps cover UMCOR’s cost of doing business and allows us to keep our promise that 100 percent of every other contribution you make to a specific UMCOR project will be spent on that project and not on administrative costs.
One Great Hour of Sharing is March 14.
Order your free offering envelopes or
posters by calling 888-346-3862. Check the UMCOR website for
worship materials in support of this important offering. Gifts to this fund can be made all-year long.
Please give now.
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 by clicking on any of the "Give Now" links. 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.
And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.
HAITI: EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY UPDATE
UMCOR Work Plan Emerges: Three Phases, Five Years
UMCOR’s recovery effort in Haiti is projected to span at least five years, according to a team of UMCOR executives who spent two weeks in the Caribbean nation assessing damages and needs following the January 12 earthquake.
Melissa Crutchfield, an UMCOR executive for international disaster relief, refers to the plan as a “living document,” one that provides a roadmap of recovery in three phases while also taking into account emerging needs as relief efforts progress.
According to the Haitian government, in addition to the 200,000 people who died in the disaster, at least three million in the country have been impacted directly or indirectly, including 500,000 survivors who are internally displaced.
The Emergency Phase of the UMCOR plan stretches through April and includes the start of the rainy season in March. It addresses the most immediate needs of access to food, clean water, temporary shelter and emotional and spiritual support.
It will be followed by a medium-term transition phase and a long-term rehabilitation phase, in which structures and infrastructures (homes, schools, medical facilities and churches) will move to more permanent buildings and systems.
Your support will be critical throughout the implementation of the plan. Gifts to Haiti can be made online by visiting
www.umcorhaiti.org. For gifts by mail, please make checks payable to UMCOR and mail to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. Please indicate Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325 on the memo line of your check. One hundred percent of gifts made to this advance will go to help the people of Haiti.
Layette Kits Needed
Even before the 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti last month many Haitian mothers lacked swaddling clothes in which to wrap their newborns. In the days since the disaster, babies have been born amid rubble, in field hospitals and in rudimentary shelters, and surviving parents are even less likely to have clean clothes and diapers to welcome them.
Putting together layette kits is another way your church, school or community can help Haiti at this critical time. Each kit contains diapers, washcloths, one-piece body suits or shirts, gowns, diaper pins and receiving blankets.
Click here for more information.
Thank You for Health Kits
Children like Ben Hale, son of Revs. Christie & Josh Hale in the Texas Conference Southeast District, were among the many people across the U.S. who have contributed to the more than 100,000 health kits that have been assembled for shipment to Haiti from UMCOR’s Sager Brown Depot. Nearly as many are currently being processed. Thank you for your generous support. Health kits are still needed and being accepted at all United Methodist depots. UMCOR is securing warehouse space in Haiti to which the kits will be shipped and from which they will be distributed to a population that urgently needs them.
Click here for more information.
Languages of the Central South District
