DISASTER RESPONSE

Brethren Disaster Ministries has updated its website with information for its second project response, which will mark a return to projects in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. The area was struck by a strong tornado in 2021. It joins another BDM rebuilding site in Letcher County, Ky. Information is at: https://www.brethren.org/bdm/rebuild/schedules/.

Our district’s assigned week this year is Dec. 1-7, when we are responsible for supplying seven volunteers to work in conjunction with a group from South/Central Indiana at the Dawson Springs site. If you have interest in participating, contact district disaster coordinator Rick Koch at revrick4433@gmail.com.

RECENT HURRICANES: Response is under way in the wake of the two severe fall hurricanes, Helene and Milton, which brought devastation to parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and beyond. Several Church of the Brethren congregations in the region were affected.

Staff of Brethren Disaster Ministries (BDM) continue to work with district leaders in the region to help coordinate response efforts including the collection and distribution of relief materials and donations for emergency funding—especially for the hardest-hit areas in Southeastern District. The district’s Camp Carmel has been used as a staging point for donated supplies. Children’s Disaster Services has sent two teams to the region (in Asheville, N.C., and nearby Fletcher) to support families as they recover. BDM urges church members and others wanting to help to contribute by sending disaster relief kits and monetary donations to the coordinated response of the districts and denomination.

The church is supporting collections of disaster relief kits by Church World Service (CWS), many of which are warehoused and shipped by the denomination’s Material Resources staff at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. Most needed right now are Clean-Up Buckets, and also Hygiene Kits and Period Packs. Find out how to assemble these kits at https://cwskits.org/assemble-kits. Staff are encouraging people who put together CWS kits to take them to a CWS “depot”; find locations at https://cwskits.org/ship-kits.

An initial $30,000 in grants has already been allocated from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) for emergency relief. The response to Hurricane Helene will be a multi-year effort. Donations toward the effort are received at www.brethren.org/givehurricaneresponse or by mail, through checks made out to the Emergency Disaster Fund with “hurricane response” in the notation line. Mail to: Emergency Disaster Fund, Church of the Brethren, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin IL 60120.

A number of Illinois/Wisconsin congregations are making concerted efforts to aid the response. For more tips for how to help, visit www.brethren.org/news/2024/how-you-can-help. Please continue to be in prayer for all those affected by this difficult situation.