September 13, 2005

Hurricane Relief Update

HURRICANE RELIEF DROP SITE AVAILABLE FOR SATURDAY MCLAREN MEETING

Saint Luke's United Methodist Church in Indianapolis has agreed to be a drop-off site for hurricane relief supplies to those attending the Saturday, Sept. 17 meeting with Bishop Coyner and Brian McLaren at the church. The drop point will be at the front doors of the church. Items dropped there will be transported to Lawrence United Methodist Church for distribution to Sager Brown or an alternative site used by UMCOR in Louisiana.

SAGER BROWN FILLING RAPIDLY, OTHER SITES AVAILABLE (corrected from yesterday)

UMCOR's Executive Director Tom Hazelwood, gave this information to United Methodist Jurisdictional Volunteer in Mission coordinators this weekend. UMCOR Sager Brown is filling rapidly and may not be able to accept all goods at this time. Hazelwood asks churches and conference disaster coordinators to please call Sager Brown first at 800-818-8765 to see if they can handle your shipment. If not, then contact one of these three multi-agency warehouses that UMCOR has suggested using. Call them before arriving with your donated goods:

1. Multi-Agency Warehouse, 840 Boling, Jackson, Mississippi, 93209. 601-969-6155
2. Multi-Agency Warehouse, 1102 Admiral Doyle Road, New Iberia, LA 70560. Another contact from here: Stan Buckmaster call 405-612-4602
3. Storm Recovery Center, 866-340-1956, for AL-West FL. (Phone number corrected since yesterday.)

STORM CENTER TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBERS NOW AVAILABLE

People interested in contacting the Louisiana United Methodist Storm Center can now call toll-free at 888- 677-7111. This number was scheduled to be operating yesterday. In neighboring United Methodist conferences, toll-free numbers are already operational for church storm centers. For the Mississippi storm center, call 866-647-7486. For Alabama-West Florida disaster response center, call 866-340-1956. For churches wishing to partner with churches in one of these three conferences, these are the numbers to call for information and referral.

SOUTH CONFERENCE REGISTERING VOLUNTEERS-IN-MISSION

Those wishing to volunteer to assist with hurricane relief and recovery in South Indiana are encouraged to apply for upcoming Volunteers-in-Mission projects. Applications are available online at www.sicumc.org. Click on Volunteer-in-Mission Application and for a VIM Insurance Form*. All completed forms need to me mailed to: Elsie Miller, GBGM Volunteer, 1520 S. Liberty Dr., Bloomington, IN 47403, along with your VIM Insurance check (made payable to South Indiana Conference). Your application will then be forwarded to the Conference VIM Coordinator Carolyn Ellis for approval. The coordinator will contact you for availability and team assignment. For more information please contact the Conference Center at 800-919-8160. Completion of these forms is mandatory. *If you are not a participant in a trip your VIM insurance premium will be refunded. VIM Insurance rate is $0.75 per day per participant (including trip departure and return dates). Please make check payable to South Indiana Conference and return with your forms. Remember that projects in the stricken area of the south are just beginning to open up as roads and streets are cleared of debris. Relief might be days or weeks away for survivors just being rescued.

CHURCHES WANTING TO HOUSE EVACUEE FAMILIES, CALL HOMELAND SECURITY

For those congregations wishing to explore the possibility of housing for Hurricane Katrina evacuee families, please contact the Indiana Department of Homeland Security at 317-233-4487 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Homeland Security is in daily contact with the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, organizations presently caring for evacuees in public shelters.

SOUTH VOLUNTEERS LEAVING FOR GULFPORT ON WEDNESDAY

Another group of volunteers from the South Indiana Conference will be leaving from Indianapolis for Gulfport, Mississippi tomorrow. These volunteers are helping to care for the immediate human needs of evacuees by assisting in meal preparation for the more than 2,000 evacuees being feed from a United Methodist Church in Gulfport. May our prayers go with them as our ambassadors for Christ.

FURNITURE NEEDED BY ORGANIZATION PROVIDING HOUSING FOR EVACUEES

Hope International, a faith-based organization providing housing for evacuees in Indianapolis, is in great need of furniture. Hope is furnishing empty housing for evacuees. For more information, contact Jean Hewitt at Hope International in Indianapolis at 317-955-0358.

FORT WAYNE HOSPITAL PARTICIPATING IN HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF EFFORTS

Ann Steiner Lantz, director of chaplaincy services at United Methodist-related Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne reports on ways Parkview is participating in Hurricane Katrina relief.

Financial Contributions -- Through the Parkview Foundation our employees and Parkview Health are donating money to assist the hospital employees of the eight not-for-profit hospitals that were affected by the hurricane. It is estimated by VHA (an alliance of not-for-profit hospitals throughout the United States) that 9,000 healthcare workers have either completely lost their homes or sustained catastrophic damage. Another 2,000 to 3,000 workers have sustained moderate damage to their homes. Parkview Health is raising money to help these employees address their personal needs, so that they can return to patient care at the earliest opportunity.

Interim staffing and long-term efforts to reopen and re-equip the damaged hospitals -- At this time, the affected hospitals are still flooded. The only thing that can be done is to evaluate the damage and wait for the floodwater to recede. As soon as the staffs of the hospitals begin the process of planning the re-opening, Parkview will be there to help. This will be a monumental task. At most hospitals, ancillary services such as radiology and laboratory are on the first level. If the equipment has been underwater, it is assumed that it cannot be repaired. There may also be structural damage to the buildings. Parkview is working with the Indiana Department of Health, Homeland Security and FEMA to provide a staffing pool for the hospitals serving the impacted area.

The blood supply must be maintained -- Parkview is working with the Red Cross to collect blood. This is one of the most critical needs. A blood drive is scheduled for Parkview Hospital on September 27.

For more information on Parkview Health's efforts, please contact Rev. Ann Steiner Lantz, Director, Chaplaincy Services, Parkview Hospital, 260-373-4470.

HOW TO HELP THROUGH UMCOR

As of Sept. 8, UMCOR had received just more than $2 million in online and telephone contributions for Hurricane Katrina relief. That figure did not include donations made by mail or through offerings given to local churches. Donations to support the United Methodist hurricane response can be made online at www.methodistrelief.org and by phone at 800-554-8583. Checks can be written to UMCOR, designated for "Hurricanes 2005 Global," Advance No. 982523, and left in offering plates or mailed to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. Information on health kits and school kits can be found on the UMCOR Web site, http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/print/kits/. Other information on packing and shipping can be found at that site or by calling the Sager Brown Depot at 800-814-8765.

For daily updates of what is happening in the South with relief efforts, log on to www.umcor.org. 

For updates from the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama-West Florida Conferences, log on to

• www.la-umc.org 
• www.mississippi-umc.org 
• www.awfumc.org 

For continuous news stories about relief efforts, log on to www.umns.org.

Compiled by
Dan Gangler, director of communication
Indiana Area of The United Methodist Church

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