Grants support hurricane response, Zimbabwe food crisis.

Grants from two Church of the Brethren funds have been given to support the church's work responding to recent hurricanes, to the food crisis in Zimbabwe, and to the Brethren response to flooding in Indiana.

The Emergency Disaster Fund has made a grant of $20,000 to aid the African country of Zimbabwe, which is experiencing a growing food crisis. The grant has been given through Church World Service (CWS) and will help support monthly food rations and agricultural recovery. Staff reported that it is estimated that up to four million people in Zimbabwe needed food aid beginning in October.

The Global Food Crisis Fund also has allocated $10,000 to support the partner work of CWS, Action by Churches Together, and Christian Care in Zimbabwe. The allocation will assist in conservation farming, food processing, preservation storage, and nutrition education.

Brethren Disaster Ministries requested an allocation of $35,000 from the Emergency Disaster Fund in response to an expanded CWS appeal for hurricane response in the United States. The money will support longterm recovery work in southern Louisiana, as well as providing CWS with material aid, staff deployment for trainings, and financial support to longterm recovery groups in Texas.

Brethren Disaster Ministries has received a grant of $15,000 from the Emergency Disaster Fund for work in Johnson County, Ind., which was affected by heavy rains and flooding. The area had 900 homes suffer damage, with a longterm recovery committee reporting 250 cases pending and waiting for help. The grant will support a Brethren Disaster Ministries project to repair and rebuild homes, to open early this month. The grant will pay for volunteer housing, food, onsite expenses, tools, and equipment.

In Indiana, Brethren Disaster Ministries has been working closely with pastor Chuck Berdel of Christ Our Shepherd Church of the Brethren in Greenwood, Ind. Berdel is the Construction Committee chairman for the Johnson County Long-Term Recovery Committee. He reported that more needs are emerging as the weeks go by. "The time is critical to begin before cold weather gets here," he said. The project is anticipated to continue well into 2009.

Source: 11/5/2008 Newsline