Fund gives $120,000 for Middle East, Katrina, Sudan, among grants.

The Emergency Disaster Fund of the Church of the Brethren General Board has given a total of $120,000 in six recent grants. The amount includes grants for peace efforts in the Middle East along with Brethren disaster relief work in the Gulf following Hurricane Katrina, and support for displaced people returning to southern Sudan, among other projects.

An allocation of $40,000 supports a Church World Service (CWS) appeal addressing humanitarian need in several regions of the Middle East resulting from war and violent conflict. These funds will provide medical care, food aid, material resources, rebuilding of schools, and repairing water systems.

A grant of $30,000 supports a project of Brethren Disaster Response in McComb, Miss. This new "Katrina Site 3" project will repair and rebuild homes destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The grant money will provide travel expenses and food and housing for volunteers, leadership training, additional tools and equipment, and some building supplies.

An additional allocation of $25,000 continues funding of Brethren Disaster Response work at the "Katrina Site 2" in Pearl River, La. The funds will provide food, housing, transportation, and support for Brethren volunteers who travel to Louisiana to do home rebuilding and repairs, as well as tools and materials.

The sum of $15,000 has been given in response to a CWS appeal to assist displaced Sudanese people who are returning to their homes in southern Sudan. The funds will be used by a CWS partner, Churches Ecumenical Action in Sudan, to provide water and sanitation as well as education and health services to 66,000 residents, displaced persons, and returnees.

An allocation of $5,000 supports a new year-long project for Disaster Child Care in New Orleans. The project called "The Road Home" is at the request of FEMA, to provide child care assistance to families returning home to New Orleans throughout 2007. On Jan. 2, FEMA is opening a Louisiana Welcome Home Center as a "One-Stop-Shop" housing agencies and organizations that can provide resources to those who had to be evacuated during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Disaster Child Care center will be set up at the One-Stop-Shop. The grant money will support volunteer travel, food, housing, and training. Future grants are also expected.

A grant of $5,000 responds to a CWS appeal following flooding and storm damage this fall in many states including Washington, New York, Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Alabama, and Hawaii. The grant will support capacity-building work by the CWS Disaster Response and Recovery Liaisons in these states, as well as local longterm recovery groups.

Source: 1/17/2007 Newsline