UMCOR Hurricane Helene Update - October 1, 2024
How You and Your Church Can Support Our Disaster Response
PRAYER
Please continue to pray for our neighbors who are hurting due to the devastating storm, for the emergency responders, and for the ministry partners in all the impacted UMC conferences.
UMCOR KITS
Churches can support our sisters and brothers by assembling UMCOR kits (https://umcmission.org/relief-supplies). Please store them at your church until we communicate dates and drop-off locations.
We will either fulfill specific requests from other conferences for cleaning and hygiene kits or will help replenish all the kits currently being shipped to affected areas out of our warehouses.
FINANCIAL DONATIONS
Financial giving is critical. With financial donations, the local responders can purchase the most needed items or offer immediate assistance to survivors.
You can support the TWK Response to the Hurricane Helene Disaster by giving to our conference disaster recovery fund (https://twkumc.org/donate). Checks can be made out and mailed to the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference at PO Box 440132, Nashville, TN 37244 (please note Disaster Response in the memo line).
These funds will go toward supporting immediate needs in the affected areas and funding our Emergency Response Teams (ERT), which will be deployed to the area in the weeks ahead.
TRAIN TO JOIN AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM
The TWK Disaster Leadership team will schedule ERT training throughout the conference before the end of the year. We anticipate one in Ripley, TN, and one in Paducah, KY. We also hope to have one in the middle Tennessee area before the end of the year. Dates, locations, and registration links will be available soon.
Because of safety concerns, it is still too soon to deploy our teams. Current ERTs will be notified when invitations to other conferences are extended to us. We anticipate sending teams first to communities in the Holston Conference.
Thank you for your continued support. Please contact the TWK Disaster Response Team at disasterresponse@twkumc.org with any questions or specific aid you can offer.
