Sandy giving now at $6.1 million; teams needed
Sandy giving now at $6.1 million; teams needed
Workers pile up debris from Hurricane Sandy in the midst of a nor’easter snowstorm in the Staten Island borough of New York. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.
By Linda Bloom*
NEW YORK (UMNS) — United Methodists are continuing to contribute both money and volunteer time to the denomination’s relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Sandy.
As of the week of Jan. 21, the United Methodist Committee on Relief had received $6.1 million in donations for Sandy relief.
The previous week, the United Methodist Connectional Table, which coordinates the denomination’s mission and ministry, approved the release of $50,000 annually in contingency funds for at least two years to help with Hurricane Sandy recovery.
The funds will support the “Generation Restoration” initiative, a partnership of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship’s Young People Ministries and the Greater New Jersey Conference. The initiative will use a coordinating team of United Methodist young adults to connect thousands of youth and young adults with recovery efforts in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and likely West Virginia.
In a recent letter to the New England Annual (regional) Conference, Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar thanked church members for donating $77,100 in general Sandy relief and raising an additional $29,674 for the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference Disaster Relief Fund.
Long-term recovery volunteer teams for Sandy can now register for work through the following conferences:
New York Conference: Five sites open, register online
Greater New Jersey Conference: Nine sites open, register online
Peninsula-Delaware Conference: Schedule teams through the Disaster Response Coordinator, Rich Walton. They are working on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Crisfield, Maryland.
West Virginia Conference: Contact Jenny Gannaway
For more information, contact your jurisdictional UMVIM coordinator.
