Hurricane Relief

 

Mission Teams from PHUMC: Teenagers in our church youth group spent part of their Christmas 2005 vacation in Biloxi, Mississippi, helping with cleanup efforts. Another youth team and an adult/family team participated in two mission trips to the Gulf Coast area in the summer of 2006 and a third trip in the summer of 2007. Contact Cindy Burns at (501) 664-3600 ort cburns@phumc.com

 

THANKSGIVING TRIP: A group of volunteers spent part of the Thanksgiving weekend 2006 at Gulfside Assembly Ground, an historic Methodist assembly ground that has served African American brothers and sisters for decades in Mississippi. It was totally destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Efforts have just begun to clean and rebuild the Thelma Stevens House for missionaries and church workers. Call Gwen Efird at (501) 666-8446 or Paula Watson at (501) 225-7575 or talk with Cindy Burns at church.

 

CHRISTMAS TRIP: December 26-30, 2006 to Biloxi, Mississippi to help rebuild. All ages are welcome to participate in the next trip.   Contacts: Marie Syler (501)803-3591; Rev. Harriet Akins-Banman (501)664-3600, hakinsbanman@phumc.com; Cindy Burns (501)664-3600, cburns@phumc.com

 

Hurricane Relief: The most simple way to contribute to hurricane relief efforts is to make a check out to PHUMC, mark it “hurricane relief” in the lower left corner, and drop it in the collection plate Friday night or Sunday morning. The money will go to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee On Relief).  100% of donations to UMCOR go directly to help victims. UMCOR overhead is covered by other donations to the United Methodist Church.

Other Ways to Donate: Your gift to UMCOR Advance #982523, Hurricanes 2005 Global, will help those affected by Hurricane Katrina. You may give at www.methodistrelief.org, over the phone at 1-800-554-8583, or by mailing a check directly to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. Checks should be written to UMCOR with the Advance number and name written on the memo line of your check. If you would prefer that your funds to go to recovery in a specific region, please note that on your donation.

Bring flood buckets to church immediately, whenever a flood disaster occurs, filled with cleaning supplies that people use to clean their homes after floods and hurricanes. (see instructions below) Or call UMCOR Sager Brown at 1-800-814-8765 or visit the UMCOR website at umcor.org. You may also give a financial donation to UMCOR’s Material Resource Ministry, Advance #901440, to purchase cleaning supplies that the Depot staff and volunteers will use to assemble flood buckets. Flood buckets delivered to PHUMC will go to the Ark. Conference Office and then to disaster areas.

Assemble Flood Buckets: These supplies enable people to begin the overwhelming job of cleaning up after a flood or hurricane. If the requested sized item is not available, go down to the next available size. If nothing is available in the requested or smaller size, put masking tape on the outside of the bucket saying, “This bucket contains no ______.”

Please include: 5-gallon bucket with resealable lid, bleach (two 1-quart or one 82 oz. bottle (Do not include bleach of you are shipping the bucket through the US Postal Service, UPS or FedEx), 5 scouring pads, 7 sponges, 1 scrub brush, 18 cleaning towels (reusable wipes), liquid laundry detergent (two 25 oz. or one 50 oz. bottle), 1 household cleaner, 12-16 oz. bottle,· disinfectant dish soap, 16-28 oz. bottle, 50 clothes pins, clothes line (two 50 ft. or one 100 ft.), 5 dust masks, 2 pair latex gloves, 1 pair work gloves, 24-bag roll of heavy-duty trash bags, 33-45 gallon (remove roll from box before placing in bucket), 1 insect repellant spray, 6-14 oz. can, 1 air freshener, 8 or 9 oz. can; Special requirements- Put all items in the plastic bucket and seal lid. Please ensure that all cleansing agents are liquids (not powder) and in plastic bottles.

All aerosols or flammables- If aerosols are included, do not send the bucket by US mail or DHL/Airborne freight. Ship by UPS ground, FedEx ground, or truck. Pack inside the bucket or strong outer boxes. Put the ORM-D mark on the outside of any buckets or boxes containing these items. Get it at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/print/kits/orm-d.cfm. Copy and tape on each bucket or box. Boxes cannot exceed 66 lbs. each. Value: $45 per bucket.
In a separate envelope, please send a check written to UMCOR Sager Brown for at least $1.50 for each flood bucket to help with the costs of processing and shipping.

Volunteers are still needed to help in Hurricane Katrina recovery. To find out how you can help with hurricane cleanup, write Mission Volunteers at voluntrs@gbgm-umc.org for contact information for your United Methodist Volunteers in Mission jurisdictional and conference coordinators. They will provide details on creating and training a team as well as scheduling details. For information on what disaster sites are currently scheduling volunteers, call the Volunteer Hotline at 1-8800-918-3100.

 

To give to the PHUMC Hospitality Center, make a check to PHUMC and mark it “PHUMC hurricane relief here” in the lower left corner. For three weeks in September 2005, our gym was home for about 26 guests from Louisiana. Meals were served three times a day. The families have transitioned to apartments and rent houses for now. We are using donations to continue to support their needs for furnishings, food, school supplies, and other basic needs. See photographs here: www.phumc.com/Shelter.htm