Emergency Disaster Fund tops $2 million in 2005.

The Emergency Disaster Fund of the General Board has received more than $2 million in donations for disaster relief in 2005--five or six times the regular annual rate of giving to the fund. The church's generous response to the needs of survivors of the South Asia tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, and the needs generated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, is credited for this increase in giving.

As of Oct. 12, the fund had received $2,109,925 from Jan. 1 through Oct. 12, 2005, as compared to $345,406 in the same period last year.

"Our ministries and our donors have had the opportunity to do good for a great many more people than the norm this year," said Ken Neher, director of Funding and Donor Development for the General Board, referring to Galatians 6:10.

The Emergency Disaster Fund supports the work of Church World Service through grants to disaster appeals, longterm recovery groups, and refugee services. It also supports Church of the Brethren disaster relief work including the Emergency Response/Service Ministries of the General Board, Disaster Child Care, and Brethren Disaster Response.

The generous giving received in 2005 for disaster relief are making it possible for Emergency Response/Service Ministries to field more Disaster Child Care teams and train more child care volunteers--a necessity this year because of the scope of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Also, the Church of the Brethren has been able to contribute more funds to the Church World Service work related to the tsunami in Indonesia, and the Gulf Coast hurricanes.

About one third of the giving designated for tsunami relief is being held for the two-to-five-year response phase of the recovery effort, said Roy Winter, director of Emergency Response. "It's important to support the longterm work since the church had such a great response" in giving to the Emergency Disaster Fund, he said. The higher level of giving also will make it possible for the church to give to revised appeals from CWS related to the tsunami, after new estimates are made following the end of the first phase of response.

And the Brethren generosity makes it possible for the church to contribute immediately to CWS work for survivors of last weekend's earthquake in Pakistan and India. A new grant from the Emergency Disaster Fund sends $50,000 to CWS' work in Pakistan following last weekend's earthquake, where three assessment teams are deployed and CWS is providing food, shelter, reconstruction supplies, and medical assistance. Another new grant gives $5,000 for the Brethren Disaster Response clean up project in the area of Lake Charles, La., following Hurricane Rita.

Source: 10/14/2005 Newsline Special Report
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