United Methodist cash gifts for Katrina exceed $2.6 million Sept. 14, 2005 By Elliott Wright* NEW YORK (UMNS) — Cash contributions to the United Methodist Committee on Relief for Hurricane Katrina relief and rehabilitation totaled $2.6 million as of Sept. 13. That amount includes gifts made by Internet and telephone donors, and two days of checks received by mail, according to Roland Fernandes, treasurer of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. UMCOR is part of the international mission agency. Fernandes said he has been asked to make comparisons between cash contributions to Katrina relief and donation following the tsunami that struck in South Asia at the end of last year. He said he was hesitant to make any such comparisons because it is very soon after Katrina and because the situations are different. UMCOR received more than $40 million over a six-month period for tsunami relief and rebuilding. “Donating money was one of the few avenues open to people who wanted to respond to the tsunami disaster,” Fernandes explained. “Many responses are possible to the ravages of Katrina. In addition to cash contributions, church members in the U.S.A. are also providing great amounts of material goods, volunteering for post-hurricane cleanup, caring for displaced persons, and spending money to help people within their own communities and regions. “We are enormously grateful to United Methodists for the many ways in which they are fulfilling their Christian responsibilities in the wake of the hurricane,” he added. Donations to support the United Methodist response to the Hurricane Katrina tragedy can be made online at www.methodistrelief.org and by phone at (800) 554-8583. Checks can be written to UMCOR, designated for “Hurricanes 2005 Global,” Advance No. 982523, and left in church offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. *Wright is the communications officer for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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