* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
In Today's Hotline: Read how UMCOR is responding to needs around the world:
GLOBAL: CONTAIN YOUR JOY
TURKEY: KEEPING WARM
HORN OF AFRICA: HUNGER CONTINUES
GLOBAL: WORLD AIDS DAY
UMCOR: GIFT CATALOG
GLOBAL: CONTAIN YOUR JOY
During this holiday season, wouldn’t you like to connect someone in need with essential items, such as school supplies, a warm blanket, or clothing for a newborn baby? By giving to the Contain Your Joy Advance, you can help the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to deliver these items and more to individuals, families, and communities in need.
The Contain Your Joy Advance funds humanitarian shipments to UMCOR-supported programs around the world. Just this month, funding from Contain Your Joy made it possible for UMCOR to send about 16,000 school kits, health kits, and other supplies to people in need in South Sudan, the world’s newest nation.
Right now, however, Contain Your Joy could use some additional assistance. Fuel and equipment prices are rising, and the costs to deliver relief supplies to communities in need are higher than ever. This Christmas season, won’t you consider making a donation to Contain Your Joy? Give today to UMCOR Advance #982730.
TURKEY: KEEPING WARM
The distribution of 200 UMCOR-funded heaters came like a “miracle” to earthquake survivors in the villages of Ermisler, Akcift, and 17 remote settlements outside the city of Van in Turkey, according to UMCOR’s implementing partner there, International Blue Crescent (IBC).
Families who received the heaters had lost all their belongings, including livestock and harvests, when earthquakes rocked the region on October 23 and November 9. Most are living in makeshift barracks, tents, or prefabricated compounds near their destroyed or damaged homes.
The heaters IBC distributed use commonly found raw materials, such as wood, and are safer to use than gas-tube heaters, which have caused fires. They also serve as stoves, allowing families to resolve both cooking and heating challenges as temperatures plummet.
IBC is also providing daily food packages and school supplies for 615 students in a regional school, and UMCOR is providing children in the affected villages with warm winter clothes.
Your gift to International Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #982450, helps UMCOR respond to this and other emergencies around the world. Please earmark your check “Turkey earthquake.” Read more
HORN OF AFRICA: HUNGER CONTINUES
Millions of people continue to struggle for survival in the Horn of Africa. This drought is the worst in 60 years and is complicated by unrest in the region. Addressing this “prolonged, complex emergency” will require a lot of time and resources, said Melissa Crutchfield, who leads UMCOR’s international disaster response.
“While we are currently working to provide immediate relief to displaced persons and those with acute needs such as malnutrition, our focus moving forward will address some of the root causes of the drought and famine,” she noted. The emphasis will be on projects promoting sustainable agriculture, healthy livestock, climate-change adaptation, and disaster-risk reduction. Read more
Give today to help alleviate the suffering in the Horn of Africa through UMCOR Advance #982450, International Disaster Response. You can designate your gift for “Horn of Africa Crisis.”
GLOBAL: WORLD AIDS DAY
World AIDS Day is this Thursday, December 1. Mark this day set aside for AIDS awareness and education by taking the 20/20 Pledge with the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund, which is working towards an AIDS-free world.
The Fund is the United Methodist response to the crisis. It raises funds and gives grants to programs that provide care for people with HIV/AIDS and provides preventative counseling and education. The 20/20 PLEDGE is to make a commitment to give at least $20 a year until 2020 to work towards an AIDS-free world.
Will you take the pledge? Get started by giving to UMCOR Advance #982345, United Methodist Global AIDS Fund.
UMCOR: GIFT CATALOG
Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, but you can still get great values. Alternative gifts through UMCOR’s Gift Catalog not only help you buy meaningful gifts for your friends and loved ones; they also bring hope to someone in need. Explore UMCOR’s Gift Catalog today to see how you can give a gift that changes the world.
UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. You can also give online by clicking any of the "Give Now" links. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.
And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.
