In many places around the world, people live in the midst of poverty, natural disaster and war. NC United Methodists – through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) – repeatedly responds, expressing the compassion of Christ to those in need. Your help continues to be needed.
Children are especially vulnerable. Public health and sanitation practices often foster disease. Educational opportunities may be limited. Yet, parents everywhere want the same things for their children – a better life.
UMCOR, working through the efforts of thousands of churches and volunteers, has distributed health, birthing, and layette kits to persons in need, particularly people displaced by war and famine, improving their sanitation and reducing disease. School and sewing kits help children and young adults obtain an education and learn marketable skills. Buckets of cleaning supplies help families whose homes have been flooded.
The NC Conference has made a concerted effort in the past two years to emphasize the assembly of these kits. Utilizing rented space at the 3MC warehouse in Goldsboro, NC Conference has sent thousands of birthing kits to Afghanistan, hundreds of school kits to Liberia, and health kits to Armenia. We haven’t overlooked the needs right here in NC either. Hundreds of health kits have gone to community health centers and school kits to children in Robeson and Hertford counties.
More recently, NC Conference directly sent food buckets to Liberia to help families suffering from the effects of Ebola. A container of food will soon be headed for Sierra Leone as well, to assist another country devastated by the Ebola outbreak.
How You Can Help
Anyone can help! Go to the UMCOR Relief Supplies website to get a list of items needed in school, birthing, layette, and sewing kits. Click here for the Food Bucket list. After assembling your kits, bring them to the mission warehouse at 3MC, any Monday, Wednesday, or Friday from 9 to 5. A special Mission Work Day is scheduled of Saturday March 21, 2015 at 3MC. Bring your assembled kits on that day and stay to help prepare the kits for shipping. To arrange other times or obtain further information, please contact Rev. Bill Haddock at revbillh@nccumc.org or 910-262-3831.