Emergency Clean-Up Bucket kits are urgently needed.

An urgent appeal for Emergency Clean-Up Bucket kits has been issued by Church World Service (CWS) following the recent onslaught of coastal storms and flooding, and in anticipation of needs after the 20-foot storm surge from Hurricane Ike hits the Texas coastline this weekend.

Staff of Brethren Disaster Ministries and Children's Disaster Services are monitoring needs related to Hurricane Ike as it approaches Texas. The American Red Cross has requested Children's Disaster Services to prepare 10 teams of volunteers for possible deployment on Monday, following the storm.

CWS disaster relief kits are processed, warehoused, and shipped from the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. "Church World Service has allocated all the buckets we had in the warehouse," said Loretta Wolf, director of the Church of the Brethren's Material Resources program. "We're down to a zero level and they don't have enough."

The buckets are kits that may be assembled by congregations, other groups, and individuals, and donated to the disaster clean-up effort. In the last 30 days, CWS also has provided dozens of shipments of blankets, Hygiene Kits, and Baby Kits, as well as Emergency Clean-Up Buckets. CWS kits have helped flood survivors in Iowa, displaced persons from the Russia-Georgia conflict, and those affected by Hurricanes Hannah, Gustav, and Ike. These items provide immediate, important relief to those coping with disaster. Many disaster-affected individuals rely on CWS resources after being forced from their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Go to www.churchworldservice.org/kits/cleanup-kits.html for information about how to assemble Emergency Clean-Up Bucket kits.

Source: 9/12/2008 Newsline Extra