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In Today's Hotline:
- US: MIDWEST FLOOD RECOVERY
- SOUTH AFRICA: REBUILDING LIVES
- US: BUY FAIR TRADE HALLOWEEN CHOCOLATE AND BAGS
- LIBERIA: FARMERS GO TO SCHOOL
- WORLDWIDE: UMCOR CHRISTMAS RESOURCES
UMCOR is helping the Wisconsin Annual Conference recover from tornadoes and floods that caused extensive damage in more than 30 counties in June. Recovery work in Wisconsin is expected to last more than two years.
UMCOR is helping to support the conference as it works with the Wisconsin Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster to address the needs of the affected families. In addition to hiring long-term case managers, UMCOR is providing emotional and spiritual care teams, child care and pastoral support.
You can help be part of the long-term recovery work througout the Midwest by giving to Domestic Disaster Response, Midwest Floods, UMCOR Advance #901670.
SOUTH AFRICA: REBUILDING LIVES
Violent xenophobic outbreaks took place across South Africa displacing thousands of people in May. Shops and homes were looted and many communities were destroyed and threatened. UMCOR is supporting SHADE (Sojourner: Help, Advocacy, Development, Education), a ministry of the Methodist Church in South Africa, in rebuilding peoples' lives by providing trauma counseling, healthcare, reuniting families, helping with job placement and reintegrating people who are displaced into local communities.
SHADE empowers thousands of people displaced by war, economics and HIV/AIDS. The ministry also offers nutrition and HIV/AIDS awareness, education, life-skills training, and more. Support this ministry by giving to SHADE, UMCOR Advance #180001.
US: BUY FAIR TRADE HALLOWEEN CHOCOLATE AND BAGS
This Halloween, UMCOR, the General Board of Church and Society and Equal Exchange are encouraging congregations to purchase fairly traded chocolate or cocoa products through the UMCOR Coffee Project and Equal Exchange, helping farmers earn fair prices and reducing forced child labor.
United Methodist trick-or-treat bags and fairly traded Organic Dark Chocolate Minis are now available through Equal Exchange's Interfaith Store. Every mini chocolate purchased through the UMCOR Coffee Project and Equal Exchange, will be accompanied by an informational post card about fair trade. This year, encourage trick-or-treaters to give rather than receiveĀhave them pass out fair trade chocolate and United Methodist informational cards to every home they visit.
Download "The Truth About Chocolate", UMCOR's new church bulletin insert, for ways to support fair trade and reduce forced child labor. You can also give to World Hunger/Poverty, UMCOR Advance #982920.
Luke Yaryar eagerly walks two and a half hours from his house in Tonoetown, Liberia to get to UMCOR"s Farmer Field School training in Whiegblekon. He is gaining practical hands-on knowledge about crop production and seeing the results in his own vegetable farm back home and has begun to sell his produce at the local market.
UMCOR's Integrated Crop and Pest Management (ICPM) Farmer Field School training takes place over an entire growing season. This allows farmers the appropriate time to plant various test plots and learn what growing techniques work best with less production costs.
"I want to help others learn about what I have learned here," says Yaryar. "I hope they follow me." Yaryar plans to extend UMCOR's training to others in Grand Bassa County who cannot travel the distance to participate. You can support programs like these by giving to UMCOR's Sustainable Agriculture and Development Program, UMCOR Advance #982188.WORLDWIDE: UMCOR CHRISTMAS RESOURCES
A preview of UMCOR's 2008 Gift Catalog is now available. The Christmas flyer and church bulletin feature some of the alternative gift suggestions that will be highlighted in the soon-to-be updated UMCOR Gift Catalog. It provides details about some of UMCOR's core programs around the world and each dollar amount represents the cost of needs that can be met with your gift. 100 percent of your contribution will support the designated program.
Download UMCOR's 2008 Christmas List Flyer and share it with others to encourage them to give differently this year. Also download UMCOR's Christmas Wish List church bulletin insert and share it with your local congregation or church community.
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 at givetomission.org. 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.
United Methodist Committee on Relief
General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church
Room 330, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115
Voice Phone: 1-212-870-3816; FAX: 1-212-870-3624
Email: umcor@gbgm-umc.org
Web: http://www.umcor.org
UMCOR. Be There. Be Hope.
UMCOR's mission is to alleviate human suffering-whether caused by war, conflict, or natural disaster-with open minds and hearts to all people.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
