North Alabama United Methodists responding to storms and flooding disasters
North Alabama United Methodists are reaching out to be in ministry to victims of storms and flooding that have affected North Alabama and other areas of the southeastern United States over the last few weeks.
North Alabama area
Volunteer early response teams are on the ground in the Albertville and Geraldine areas where tornadoes caused much damage on April 24.
Soon after the storms struck, an UMCOR grant was requested to help fund the United Methodist work in this area and a formal request was made for trained Early Response Teams (ERT) to begin disaster recovery in the Albertville and Geraldine areas.
Almost $500,000 in relief supplies have been sent to this area from the North Alabama Disaster Warehouse near Decatur in the Northwest District. Within 48 hours of the storms four equipped emergency trailers from the Northwest District, plus trained personnel, food, first aid equipment, water purifying systems, generators, tarps and prayers were in the area thanks to the generosity of North Alabama Conference United Methodists.
Following its District Conference on May 2, volunteers in the Mountain Lakes District gathered and packed backpacks of food for the children of Geraldine who because of the storm damage to their homes may not be able to eat on weekends when school is out. A commitment has been made to do that each week for as long as necessary. Churches in the Mountains Lakes District have also reached out to the McNutt Memorial UMC whose building was destroyed by a tornado on April 24.
As with any disaster, the United Methodist Church, through UMCOR, partners with other disaster organizations and denominations to help in the disaster recovery process. This partnership allows different organizations to offer their skills and expertise in different aspects of the disaster recovery process. United Methodists not only are among the first on the scene through trained early response teams, but we also are part of the long range recovery process with many volunteers trained in case management. This disaster is still in the early response and assessment period. However, UMCOR and United Methodist volunteers and work teams will continue to work in the area for many months to assure that every person in need is assisted.
United Methodist teams are being coordinated by the Mountain Lakes District Disaster Response Team. There is still a need for trained Early Response Teams. Contact the Mountain Lakes District Disaster Response Coordinator Bill Cater at (256) 390-3404 or Conference Disaster Response Coordinator Rev. John Hassell at cumc@dbtech.net or (205) 275-7397.
Mississippi and Tennessee
Storms on April 23 and 24 also caused damage in parts of Mississippi. UMCOR is responding to needs in those areas including sending relief supplies of cleaning (flood) buckets and health kits into the Mississippi Conference.
This week in response to the flooding in Tennessee, UMCOR sent a shipment of Cleaning Buckets from the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot on Monday morning, May 3. On Wednesday morning May 5, North Alabama volunteers delivered approximately 2000 health kits from the Disaster Warehouse in Decatur. These kits were collected in the last few weeks to restock the supply of kits after the majority were forwarded to the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, La. -- the headquarters for UMCORs relief supply operations.
North Alabama Conference congregations and individuals have been amazingly generous in supporting the church’s disaster response through UMCOR this year. Beyond giving more than $225,000 in cash donations to the relief efforts for the earthquake in Haiti, United Methodists also collected Health Kits and other supplies. Several containers of supplies were sent directly to Haiti from North Alabama. Others truckloads of supplies were shipped to the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot. These supplies were both shipped to Haiti and ready to go as other disasters strike – including the storms and floods affecting the Southeast at the current time.
How you can help:
Pray:
Please pray for those who have suffered losses in these storms.
Give
Help UMCOR respond with your gift to US Domestic Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #901670.
Every time you give to a designated emergency or program 100% of your gift supports the intended need. UMCOR does not use any of your designated gifts for administrative or home office costs-they are covered by other funding channels (such as the One Great Hour of Sharing Special Offering each year.)
To Give:
Write US Domestic Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #901670 in the memo line of your check.
By Offering - For local church and Annual Conference credit, put your gift in the offering plate on Sunday. Local Church can then send the funds to the Annual Conference Treasurer's Office.
By Check – Make your check to UMCOR and send to: UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087
By Credit Card - Call toll-free (800) 554-8583 or Give online at www.methodistrelief.org
Donate Kits and Relief Supplies
Currently, there is a specific need for Cleaning Buckets. (formerly called Flood Buckets)
Click here to find out more about Cleaning Buckets and to download a pdf to print and share with your congregation.
Note: if the requested item size is not available, go down to the next available size. If nothing is available in the requested or smaller size, put masking tape on the outside of the bucket saying, "This bucket contains no _________"
• 5-gallon bucket with resealable lid
• Bleach (two 1-quart or one 82 oz. bottle. Do not include bleach if you are shipping the bucket through the US Postal Service, UPS or FedEx)
• 5 scouring pads
• 7 Sponges
• 1 scrub brush
• 18 cleaning towels (reusable wipes)
• Liquid laundry detergent (two 25 oz. or one 50 oz. bottle)
• 1 household cleaner, 12-16 oz. bottle
• Disinfectant dish soap, 16-28 oz. bottle
• 50 clothes pins
• Clothes line (two 50 ft. or one 100 ft.)
• 5 dust masks
• 2 pair latex gloves
• 1 pair work gloves
• 24-bag roll of heavy-duty trash bags, 33-45 gallon (remove roll from box before placing in bucket)
• 1 Insect repellant spray, 6-14 oz. can (If aerosol, cans must have protective caps. See Special Requirements below.)
• 1 Air freshener, 8 or 9 oz. can (If aerosol, cans must have protective caps.
•All items included in kits must be NEW items.
•All emergency kits are carefully planned to make them usable in the greatest number of situations. Since strict rules often govern product entry into international countries, it is important that kits contain only the requested items-nothing more.
•Do NOT include any personal notes, money or additional materials in the kits. These things must be painstakingly removed and will delay the shipment.
Buckets may be delivered to:
Location 1 is the Disaster Warehouse near Decatur. Click here for information and directions to the warehouse. This warehouse is staffed by volunteers. So make sure you call before you plan your trip to the warehouse. Call (256) 341-9961 to set up your drop off time.
Location 2 is the United Methodist Center in Birmingham. Click here for directions to the United Methodist Center.
Stay Informed
Subscribe to the North Alabama Conference Disaster Response email list to be notified of more specific needs by email. To subscribe click here and fill out the form choosing "Disaster Response Updates" as an area of interest.
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