you are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I love you.” –Isaiah 43:4 (CEB)
Volunteer labor means your donation does more.
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THE POWER OF MANY
“We raise money here in our conference, but not nearly enough to do what we have to do in the event of a large disaster. But when we combine our money with UMCOR’s, we make something really wonderful happen.”
—Dana Bryson, Co-Disaster Response Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Conference
Why the Name UMCOR Matters
UMCOR stands apart as one of the most TRUSTED NAMES in disaster response.
Ź UMCOR harnesses volunteer labor of incalculable social and economic value.
Ź UMCOR brings a legacy of proven expertise and collaboration with reliable disaster response and humanitarian aid partners.
Ź UMCOR is among the first in and last out.
Ź UMCOR’s flexibility allows funding to go where it’s most needed.
Ź UMCOR identifies and restores the hope and dignity of the most vulnerable.
Ź UMCOR seeks to emulate the love of Jesus Christ in all that it does.
Keep providing hope and healing to communities next door and around the world by supporting UMCOR with a gift today. Give online by visiting giveumcmission.org/precious or use the reply card enclosed.
WHAT HOPE LOOKS LIKE “Oh good! The United Methodists are here!”
See snapshots of the real-world impact of your generosity.
From Texas to Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo, UMCOR is partnering with you to serve survivors.
UMCOR RACES TO THE RESCUE AFTER MAY STORMS
During Memorial Day Weekend in May, a deadly tornado tore through communities northwest of Dallas, razing buildings and killing seven.
Miraculously, Valley View (Texas) United Methodist Church was spared any damage. Almost immediately, parishioners and other volunteers transformed the church into a hub of connection.
Coffee brewed at midnight. First-responders dried wet clothes. Donations of diapers, bottled water, and nonperishables poured in. T-shirts and jeans also came in, providing survivors and volunteers with ample changes of dry clothing.
In Rogers, Arkansas, the First United Methodist Church was less fortunate. The storms buckled stained glass and downed power lines. Nearby, a falling tree dissected a home.
In Mountain Home, Arkansas, donations of ice, kegs of water, dog kennels, and phone chargers were distributed to survivors.
Rev. Tim McHugh of Grace United Methodist Church in Claremore, Oklahoma, said the storms were the worst he had seen in 10 years.
When a local resident saw him clearing the road, McHugh heard them croon: “Oh good, the United Methodists are here!’”
UMCOR ROLLS OUT NEW MOBILE POWER STATION
Next to dry clothes and water, access to power in the wake of a storm is critical. When the power goes, so does access to vital necessities like communication, refrigeration, and medical equipment.
Last fall, the North Georgia Conference launched a new solar-powered self-sustaining Mobile Solar Power Station. It can be
parked in a patch of sunlight and provides enough power to run a 3,000-squarefoot house, charging phones and laptops and powering key resources like refrigerators, medical equipment, batteries, and electric vehicles.
While most generators run on diesel, this eco-friendly alternative furthers The United Methodist Church’s commitment to creation care and the careful stewardship of resources.
BRINGING BREAD FOR THE HUNGRY IN MADAGASCAR
The lushly forested island nation of Madagascar has a fragile ecosystem. Situated in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa, the nation’s southern region is particularly vulnerable to both drought and flooding.
Within the last 10 years, the island’s weather patterns have grown more unpredictable, exacerbating food insecurity and poverty.
Recently, eight parishioners of The United Methodist Church in Madagascar brought UMCOR-funded assistance to the Ihorombe region, one of the hardest-hit areas.
Volunteer Monique Ralivony described “unimaginable” living conditions, including poor roads and a lack of clean water.
“However, I remained motivated because I felt that UMC members all over the world were with me,” she says. “[They] helped us carry out the bread and the Word…[to the] poor and needy all over the world.”
FEEDING TWICE-AFFLICTED REFUGEES OF WAR AND FIRE
Not long ago, Tamasha Salima took her five children and fled armed conflict in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).
They were relieved to find shelter at the Malicha camp for internally displaced people in South Kivu, DR Congo.
But then the unthinkable happened: In August and October 2023, two fires erupted and ravaged the camps, destroying more than 4,000 makeshift shelters and obliterating refugees’ few possessions.
With the fires went their access to food.
But thanks to your partnership, UMCOR came to the aid of 5,000 survivors, distributing 74 tons of food and other staples, including rice, corn flour, vegetable oil, salt, sugar, and beans as well as soap, basins, and toothbrushes.
“I’m so grateful,” says Salima. “We had lost everything in the fire and did not know how we were going to get through it. This help…allows us to start living again.”
UNDER SIEGE
What Relief Looks Like in Gaza
Smiles are hard to come by during wartime.
But recently, UMCOR brought quite a few to the faces of thousands of Palestinian households displaced by the Israel-Gaza conflict of October 2023.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, more than 3,000 internally displaced families living in camps or with host families received tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, potatoes, peppers, zucchini, and lemons—allowing families to forego their usual dry food rations for fresh meals with familiar ingredients.
GLOBAL HEALTH
Global Ministries’ Global Health program responds to the world's need for mental, physical and spiritual wholeness. Through United Methodist conferences and health boards, Global Ministries strengthens networks of care, from revitalization of facilities and staff training to building better water sources, developing sanitation facilities and promoting nutrition. We work to eradicate preventable diseases such as malaria, HIV and AIDS, and support the most vulnerable populations including mothers, newborns and children.
IN 2023, GLOBAL HEALTH PROGRAMS:
Ź Funded 86 vital projects totaling more than $6 million
Ź Assisted more than 2.2 million people
Give by Faith
Support UMCOR with a gift today to help alleviate the suffering of survivors around the world. Give online by visiting giveumcmission.org/precious or use the reply card enclosed.
Located in Rafah, the families are among the only ones left in a city that has become a ghost town since it was invaded by the Israeli military in May.
UMCOR partnered with the United Palestinian Appeal (UPA), a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. and founded in 1978 by Palestinian-American business professionals. With its history of improving the long-term socio-economic and cultural development of Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank, and the Palestinian diaspora, UPA has deep-rooted connections to many local medical facilities, social service agencies, and farming communities.
The recent food distribution drew from produce grown by local farmers, thereby ensuring the food’s high quality and community reinvestment.
In December 2023, UMCOR provided food parcels to 14,000 displaced people beyond the reach of United Nations aid. UMCOR has also partnered with the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) of the Middle East Council of Churches to support the operation of both a permanent and mobile clinic in Rafah, offering medical care and psychosocial support to those in need.
“Remember the people of Gaza in your prayers,” says Global Ministries General Secretary Roland Fernandes. “And remember those who serve alongside them…. despite their exhaustion and the volatile conditions in which they serve. We…have the honor and privilege of continuing to support their mission.”
Amid this recordbreaking storm season, UMCOR BRINGS HOPE TO BERYL SURVIVORS
June and July are relatively quiet months during the June-November hurricane season. But this year, Hurricane Beryl beat all previous records as the earliest Category 5 storm in history.
Texas: UMCOR sprang into action with emergency relief and funding after Hurricane Beryl made landfall on the Texas Coast on July 8. The storm spread throughout the Texas Conference with destructive winds and flooding, leaving more than 2 million people without power—many of the same folks who were impacted by severe storms and power outages in May.
Hurricanes Impact Everyone
Your gift to UMCOR today gives vulnerable survivors across the country and around the world immediate and longterm aid to rebuild their lives. Give online or use the reply card enclosed.
Vermont: UMCOR provided immediate assistance to survivors when Beryl’s final throes brought catastrophic flooding to Plainfield, Vermont. Bridges and buildings were washed away, necessitating evacuations. Although all were safely evacuated, the event was particularly traumatic as many residents are still recovering from catastrophic flooding exactly one year ago.
Seek and Ye Shall Find
How UMCOR is seeking out and aiding the forgotten.
After his fifth near-consecutive “500-year flood,” Godfrey Hubert—who now serves as the Texas Conference Disaster Response Coordinator—founded the Houston-based nonprofit Hope Disaster Recovery, a key UMCOR partner.
The organization works closely with UMCOR and relies heavily on UMCOR funding and expertise to expedite relief and recovery to vulnerable communities that are often repeatedly affected by climate disasters.
Climate change is to blame but so is poor municipal planning. For example, prior to 1998, Independence Heights—Houston’s first black township—did not have a flooding problem. But land development upstream and the widening of highways has negatively affected water flow, resulting in five floods within the last 20 years.
Thanks to gifts from people like you, the team has been developing methods for offering a more equitable and just disaster response by mapping more than 1,000 vulnerable communities in Greater Houston. Census tracks are overlayed with data from flood risk assessments and the Social Vulnerability Index, which is maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Since Hurricane Harvey in 2017, UMCOR has helped rebuild 1,347 local homes. Remarkably, 200 of those repairs were carried out five years after the disaster. If the funds were available, Hubert says he could easily find another 500 mold-ridden homes still waiting for assistance.
Caribbean and the Americas: UMCOR was on site with emergency relief and funds for rebuilding after Hurricane Beryl created unprecedented havoc across the Caribbean in early July. More than 200 fishing vessels were damaged in Barbados and Saint Vincent. In the Grenadines, 90 percent of the infrastructure was damaged, including roads, houses, and an airport terminal. On Carriacou, 95 percent of the homes were damaged, and Jamaica endured shortages of food and clean water. Aid was particularly essential in Haiti, already suffering from a precarious humanitarian situation that exacerbated the loss of roads and supply chain access.
Much of this work would not have been possible without generous support for UMCOR from people like you.
“UMCOR is an incredible partner. They provide funding, expertise, encouragement, and know-how. Their reputation is unbeatable, and their team is amazing. All we have to do is pick up the phone for advocacy, compassion, and guidance.”
¼ The significant economic and social value of volunteer support
¼ Its faith-infused and holistic outreach to survivors for the duration of their journey to recovery
¼ A disaster response grounded in a historical legacy that connects UMCOR people and resources to proven disaster response partners
Among the many vital things UMCOR supports are conference disaster response coordinators around the nation. These folks are central to helping local communities and churches prepare for and execute effective disaster response by helping them to organize and harness the skills of volunteers and assume leadership roles when disaster occurs.
Because UMCOR allows disaster response funds to be used for the people and projects that are “most needed,” families and communities who are most at-risk receive the assistance they need.
Thanks to the help of people like you, UMCOR remains one of the most trusted names in disaster response in the United States and around the world.
CharityWatch report issued March 2024
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
97% Program Percentage Amount spent on programs relative to overhead.
$1
Cost to Raise $100 Amount spent to raise $100 of contributions.
CharityWatch is the only independent charity watchdog in the United States
You Brighten the Forecast!
As a sustaining giver, you are absolutely vital to UMCOR’s mission of alleviating human suffering. This season’s forecast may feel daunting. But the reliability of your gifts and goodwill allow us to prepare, train, and budget in advance to maximize the value of our response and relief efforts for survivors.
Visit giveumcmission.org/precious or scan the QR code with your smartphone’s camera and learn more about becoming a Sustaining Giver. Simplify your giving and maximize your impact.
