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Locals work to help Haiti |
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Friday, 15 January 2010 |
By MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
A local church is in the early stages of collecting kits to aid those suffering from the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti.
Wapakoneta’s First United Methodist Church will soon start collecting basic necessities to ship out to the country which was devastated by a 7.0 earthquake earlier this week.
Diana Davis, the wife of the Rev. R.J. Davis, pastor of First United Methodist Church, told the Wapakoneta Daily News Thursday that her church will be working through the United Methodist Committee on Relief, (UMCOR) which consists of church volunteers worldwide who make up teams to go into disaster areas.
Davis said she received word through e-mail that UMCOR was organizing relief efforts and was calling on individual churches to help.
“Right now, the call through our denomination is for health kits, which are just basic necessities,” Davis said.
According to the UMCOR Web site, items in the kit will include a hand towel, a wash cloth, a comb, nail file, bar of soap, toothbrush six adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages and $1 to purchase toothpaste.
Davis said the health kits have been standard at the church in situations similar to the situation in Haiti for years.
Davis noted Tuesday’s disastrous earthquake also has a more personal feel for the church.
“We have a big stake in Haiti,” Davis said. “We’ve been faithful on donating beds for Grace Methodist Hospital there, so we know the area very well.”
Davis said she has learned that that hospital which stood in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince has been leveled by the quake.
She noted other projects carried out in the country by the local denomination as well as the United Methodist Church as a whole have been wiped out — years of modernizing and infrastructure building eliminated.
If anyone wishes to donate to the health kits, Davis said they are more than welcome to drop items off at the church. Right now, time is the most important part.
“The turnaround on this is quick because those folks are in need right now,” Davis said.
The Rev. Alex Gondola, pastor of St. Paul United Church of Christ, said the United Church of Christ is focusing primarily on raising monetary donations to aid those in Haiti.
“From what I’ve heard from watching news reports, cash is what they need right now,” Gondola said. “That’s what they’re saying the people on the ground need for an immediate response.”
Gondola said he would call the office late Friday to see how the denomination as a whole was responding. A report on the UCC’s disaster relief Web site says UCC constituents have given more than $135,000 in online donations.
Auglaize County EMA Director Troy Anderson said his department has not received any request for assistance yet, though he noted that could change at any time.
There’s still too much to be analyzed before requests could be made, he said.
“Right now the federal government is trying to get teams in right now to see exactly what is needed,” Anderson said. “We’re still early in all of this.”
Donations can be made by visiting the United Methodist Church’s Web site at umc.org and following the “Donate Now” link and at the UCC’s Web site at ucc.org/disaster/major-earthquake-strikes.html. First English Lutheran Church members can also find out how they can donate at firstenglishlutheran.org.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 18 January 2010 )
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