North Central and South Central Districts collect cleaning supplies for UMCOR

By Kelly Roberson
 
Through the United Methodist Committee on Relief and our United Methodist Connection, South Georgia United Methodists are able to respond immediately to those affected by disasters - whether through monetary assistance, early response teams, or relief supplies.
 
This past Fall, the North Central and South Central Districts put together 180 UMCOR cleaning kits – also known as flood buckets – to help their neighbors and enable those affected by floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes to begin the overwhelming job of cleaning up.
 
“When a storm strikes, we look for immediate ways to support those affected through monetary gifts, boots on the ground, or donated goods,” said Kelly Roberson, director of conference ministries. “As United Methodists, however, we know that the time to prepare for a disaster is a year-round process. Relief supplies are one of the tangible ways we can provide care for those most in need following a disaster or during times of crisis, and the time to prepare them is well before they are needed.”
 
Dr. Paula Lewis, superintendent of the North Central and South Central Districts, Rev. Mike Bankston, North Central District missions chair, and Rev. Joseph Carter, South Central District missions chair, worked together to plan a service project for each district during the Fall charge conference season.  
 
“The North Central District came together and produced 91 buckets for UMCOR, and we also donated enough supplies to have several partial buckets,” said Rev. Bankston. “This demonstrates how amazing our connection truly is. This mission project demonstrates the strength of our UMC connection.”
 
The South Central District put together an additional 89 buckets for a total of 180. The generous churches of these districts far exceeded expectations.
 
“One hundred-eighty flood buckets is around $23,000 worth of ministry together,” said Dr. Lewis. “While we could have put together flood buckets on our own, not many of our churches could have done $23,000 dollars in buckets alone. That is the strength of our great connectional system in the United Methodist Church. With the connection there is no limit to what we can do together!”
 
UMCOR collects relief supplies in the form of cleaning kits, hygiene kits and menstrual hygiene kits that are assembled by United Methodist volunteers – just like those in the North Central and South Central Districts – for distribution in the United States and its territories.

The kits are then donated to the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot – the hub of relief supply operations – or to an affiliate warehouse, where volunteers assemble, verify and pack the kits. 
 
Luis Morales, conference disaster response coordinator, worked with Rev. Grant Abernathy at Crossroads in Perry, GA, where the supplies are stored, and Dr. Stephen Redmond from North Georgia, who drove to Perry to collect the buckets on December 18. The buckets were then delivered to the North Georgia Conference Disaster Response Warehouse at Impact UMC in East Point. 

“I am so thankful for the generosity of our churches,” said Luis Morales, conference disaster response coordinator. “We had already taken some of our stored buckets to the Lowndes County area during our Hurricane Idalia response, so these are helping to replenish our collection and were enough to move some to North Georgia.”

The kits are stored at the warehouse until a request for supplies is received. Once a call for a large number of cleaning kits comes in to one of the warehouses, volunteers and staff pack the cleaning kits and then deliver or ship to the communities in need.

As each kit reaches its distribution point and is then given to those most affected by the storm, there is no doubt these buckets are a welcome sight for storm-weary people. These kits bring hope and love as the hard work of cleaning and recovery begins.
 
WANT TO ASSEMBLE A KIT? HERE’S HOW!
You can help keep UMCOR’s relief supply kit inventory ready to go by sending completed kits or giving toward the purchase of needed supplies.
 
UMCOR encourages the purchase of local materials for kits that are appropriate to the context and support the local economy. 
 
Learn how to assemble and ship each UMCOR relief supply kit below:

• Menstrual Hygiene Kit (“Period Pack”) Instructions
• Hygiene Kit Instructions
• Cleaning Kit Instructions