UCC, Disciples issue joint Hurricane Matthew appeal

Disaster Response Appeal – Caribbean and USA
October 2016, “Hurricane Matthew”
Disaster Ministries
of the United Church of Christ (One Great Hour of Sharing) and
Christian Church/Disciples of Christ (Week of Compassion)

 

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Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti on the morning of October 4 and in Cuba later that afternoon. This powerful and slow-moving storm battered islands of the Caribbean and the United States’ Atlantic coast.

The immediate and long-term impacts for survivors are significant. The storm flattened communities and wrecked agriculture in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas. Global Ministries’ (UCC/Disciples joint ministry) partners are reporting devastation of crops and houses in the southern regions of Haiti as well as in the city of Port-au-Prince.

Houses in Ganthier, Haiti, rebuilt for families displaced from the 2010 earthquake by Church World Service (including both the UCC and Disciples), now are flooded again. Torrential rains reignited fears of waterborne diseases like cholera, an epidemic that already was in Haiti prior to the hurricane. Over 1,000 people have died, most of them in Haiti and at least 22 in the United States. In Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, coastal destruction, wind damage and freshwater flooding has wreaked havoc.

The United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are well situated to respond robustly to people impacted both in the Caribbean and within the United States. Already, solidarity grants from the 2016 One Great Hour of Sharing Offering and Week of Compassion Fund are on their way to partners in in the region responding to immediate needs of food, shelter and safety.

The UCC and Disciples are poised to respond with other churches to provide food, water, containers, roofs, mattresses, hygiene kits and psychosocial support. Within the United States, both denominations are active in local and national disaster response networks.
Your generosity to this disaster appeal will enable our churches to expand these responses and to walk closely with our neighbors now, in the immediate crisis, and through the long-term recovery process that will follow. In the midst of tumultuous weather, people receive food and water to drink. In the midst of danger, people find safety and rebuild homes. In the midst of hopelessness, people experience a love that will not let them go.

Use the Hurricane Matthew Congregational Bulletin Insert

Read More About UCC Matthew Response, from Caribbean to Carolinas

Read the UCC News Story 10/12: East Coast Cleans Up After Hurricane Matthew, UCC Donations for Long-Term Relief

Read the UCC News Story 10/05: UCC Disaster Ministries Tracking Hurricane Matthew

Pray Passionately

Respond Generously: Designate “Hurricane Matthew Response” to UCC International Emergency Relief and/or UCC Emergency USA 

Send gifts by mail to:

One Great Hour of Sharing (UCC)
Memo: Hurricane Matthew
Financial Services Office
700 Prospect Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44115