Hurricane Relief

United in Support: How You Can Help After Hurricane Helene

Our hearts and prayers are with the people of Western North Carolina and across the Southeast in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s devastating flooding and severe weather.

NC Conference Disaster Ministries has been in touch with the Western NC Conference of The United Methodist Church to discuss how we can assist with their disaster relief efforts. They are currently evaluating the storm damage and will let us know when they need equipment and Early Response Teams.

Everyone is encouraged to donate UMCOR Cleaning Kits (Flood Buckets) and Hygiene kits If you can bring a whole kit that is ideal and we will deliver to the Marion Edwards Recovery Center Initiative (MERCI Center). You can also bring supplies off of one of the lists below and we will have groups within the church organizing to assemble and deliver.
Here are some of the upcoming opportunities where we will have collections of these supplies:
Anytime in one of the Missions Donation Containers found in the Sanctuary and CLC lobbies.
The Children and Youth ministries will be collecting and sorting supplies on October 13 from 5-7pm
Trunk or Treat at the Fall Festival – there will be a vehicle in the Trunk or Treat space to receive supplies from 5-7pm at the Fall Festival on October 27 (Chili Cookoff is at 5pm, Trunk or Treat is at 6pm)
Plus more to come – stay tuned as this will be a long-term need and a long-term commitment from our congregation to help those affected by Helene in Western North Carolina and beyond.
Lists of Needed Supplies –
Cleaning Kits (Flood Buckets)
Hygiene Kits

If you would like to help build kits at MERCI, please contact Rev. Bill Haddock at revbillh@nccumc.org.

“The hurricane, tornadoes, and floods have ravaged North Carolina. Thank you for supporting neighbor to neighbor, packing cleaning kits, and offering financial gifts for unfolding needs,” said Bishop Connie Mitchell Shelton. “Our Western NC Conference family’s flooding is treacherous. Stay alert to our communications for opportunities to respond. We trust God is near as we enter into the suffering of our neighbors.”

The Bishop was there along with 105 volunteers from approximately 30 different Methodist churches around the Conference.  Some parents brought their children as a learning lesson for Christian discipleship.  It was an inspiring day!  The 600 flood buckets and hundreds of hygiene kits that were assembled on Saturday arrived in Waynesville (NC) two days later (i.e., this past Monday).

This is what Missions did last week:
1. Sent $1000 to UMCOR and $1000 to ASP
On Saturday, the 3 White Plains mission volunteers, along with 102 other Methodists around NC, packed 600 flood buckets and hundreds of hygiene kits.  The flood buckets and hygiene kits arrived in Waynesville, NC, yesterday!
2). We are in need of a Coordinator for the ongoing Flood Bucket Efforts.
3). For now barrels are set up in the lobbies of CLC and Sanctuary to collect items for flood buckets. This link gives information about what is needed:

We will be gathering UMCOR Cleaning Kits, also known as flood buckets, to send to Western North Carolina. The Marion Edwards Recovery Center Initiative (MERCI) will be hosting UMCOR Kit packing. The most needed items for the kits are mesh reusable wipes.

4). We have someone who will take the collected items to Merci Center on 10/26.
The Merci Center really needs help over the next 10 days and supplies.
If others are interested in going, now or on 10/26,  please let Gloria know, 919-244-7071. We need to give the manager a number of folks so he can plan accordingly.

As we wait to learn more about the needs in Western North Carolina and beyond, here are a few ways you can help support disaster relief efforts:

Give

If you would like to share your gifts with those in need, donations can be made through UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) by giving to WPUMC.com/give and selecting UMCOR in the drop down menu.

Pray

Thank you for your prayers for everyone impacted by Hurricane Helene. We know that God is close to the broken-hearted and will be with everyone in this time of need.

Read a prayer from Bishop Carter in the Western NC Conference→