news article
UNY response to Hurricane Florence
September 18, 2018 / By Mike Block, Director of Missional Engagement / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
As many of you are aware, Hurricane Florence brought a significant amount of rainfall to North and South Carolina, causing evacuations, flooding, the displacement of many families, and for some, death. When the water subsides, many will return home to find their homes and businesses damaged or destroyed. Rebuilding can take weeks, months, or perhaps years. As the Director of Missional Engagement for the Upper New York Conference, I urge you to keep those affected in your prayers. The time will come when United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) will ask for volunteers to head south to assist with the clean-up and rebuilding process. In the meantime, I ask you to do a few things.
- Invite your congregation to take up a special collection for those affected. Make the announcement in advance so people can be prepared to make a generous donation. You may forward these funds to the Conference Office with a single check, made out to Upper New York Conference with "Disaster Relief" written on the memo line.
- Assemble United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Cleaning Kits (Flood Buckets) either as a congregation or work with neighboring churches to assemble kits together and either bring them to the United Methodist Center in Liverpool or drop off supplies at one of the locations closest to you listed here. Click here for assembly instructions.
There is currently a shortage of UMCOR Cleaning Kits in the Upper New York (UNY) Conference due to last month’s flooding in Seneca County and throughout Pennsylvania. Consider volunteering your time at the UNY Mission Central HUB to assemble or verify buckets. If our location in Liverpool is too far, consider organizing a “HUB on the Road,” where neighboring churches work together to purchase items together and assemble buckets as a group. UMCOR kits assembled locally are used within our area and around the world. For questions or more information, please contact me at (315) 898-2066 or mikeblock@unyumc.org. Please also consider emailing me if you would like to be added to a listserv to learn about volunteer opportunities, including possible travel to the Carolinas.