Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Brethren Disaster Ministries makes a difference in Gulf coast.

Brethren Disaster Ministries (formerly Brethren Disaster Response) is making a difference following Hurricane Katrina, reports coordinator Jane Yount. In a recent report, she released figures for the number of volunteers, work days, and homes that have been repaired or rebuilt by this program of the Church of the Brethren General Board, following the disastrous hurricane in the Gulf Coast region.

"Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall nearly two years ago, Brethren Disaster Ministries has been actively involved with longterm recovery. Putting their faith into action, volunteers are making the difference!" Yount reported.

She release the following summary of statistics for the four current repair and rebuilding sites, as of May 31: In Lucedale, Miss., 744 volunteers have given 4,577 workdays, repairing and rebuilding homes for 79 families. In Pearl River, La., 330 volunteers have donated 2,271 workdays, completing major repairs to 10 homes thus far. In McComb, Miss., 214 volunteers have served for 1,265 workdays, helping 36 families with cleanup and repairs. In Chalmette, La., 116 volunteers have shared their time and skills for 1,324 workdays, assisting 23 families in this hard-hit area.

"Our work at the two Mississippi projects has been nearly accomplished," Yount added. "We will be shutting down the Lucedale project at the end of June and the McComb project in early August. Our warmest thanks to all for making these projects possible!"

In other disaster response news, Material Resources (formerly Service Ministries) recently made the following international shipments: two containers of health kits, toothpaste, and blankets to Bolivia for Church World Service (CWS); a shipment of 374 bales of quilts to Armenia, for Lutheran World Relief and International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC); a 40-foot container of health kits to Romania, in a cooperative shipment by CWS and IOCC; a 40-foot-high cube container holding 36,704 pounds of donated medical supplies and equipment to the Republic of Congo, for Interchurch Medical Assistance; a container of CWS blankets, baby kits, plastic jugs, and children’s kits to the Dominican Republic; four 40-foot containers of clothing, sweaters, coats, blankets, quilts, sewing kits, school kits, and health and layettes soap weighing 150,361 pounds to Niger on behalf of Lutheran World Relief; a 40-foot container to Guatemala of Lutheran health and school kits; and two 40-foot containers shipped to Peru on behalf of Lutheran World Relief.

Domestic shipments have included an airlift on behalf of CWS of 23 cartons of health kits to Montgomery, Ala., for tornado and flood survivors; 45 emergency cleanup buckets to flood and tornado survivors in Savannah, Mo., on behalf of CWS; health kits for migrant workers in Syracuse, New York; blankets and health kits shipped to Des Moines, Iowa; health kits shipped to Dubuque, Iowa; blankets and health kits for Albuquerque, N.M.; blankets sent to Pine Ridge, S.D.; and flood response shipments of health kits to Austin, Texas, health kits and cleanup buckets to Coffeyville, Kan., and school and health kits to Independence, Kan.

Donations of kits were picked up from Maine to Virginia during several weeks on behalf of Material Resources by Ken Bragg and Max Price--the trucks traveled 4,210 miles picking up 63,978 pounds of kits.

Source: 7/18/2007 Newsline

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