New Windsor Center Ships $600,000 of Relief Goods to Storm Survivors on Behalf of CWS

Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
A sample of a hygiene kit distributed to survivors of disasters
Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Children help out with donations of toothbrushes and toothpaste

Shipments of relief materials have been heading out from warehouses at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., to Hurricane Sandy survivors in New Jersey, New York, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

The shipments–amounting to $605,152 worth of relief–are made on behalf of Church World Service (CWS), a global humanitarian agency funded by public donations, grants, and the support of 37 member Christian denominations.

The Church of the Brethren Material Resources staff carries out the work of processing, warehousing, and shipping relief materials for CWS and other ecumenical partners.

Shipments from the New Windsor warehouses include CWS Blankets, Hygiene Kits, School Kits, Baby Kits, and Emergency Clean-Up Buckets. So far, shipments have gone to local agencies in the four states of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. CWS reports it is working with state, regional, and local Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADS), FEMA, and member denominations and agencies to determine where help is most needed.

Details of shipments, with dollar value, follow:

— To the Adventist Community Services in the Bronx, N.Y.: 2,010 blankets, 2,010 Baby Kits, 2,010 School Kits, 2,040 Hygiene Kits, 464 Emergency Clean-Up Buckets, totaling $166,683

— To the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside, N.J.: 2,010 blankets, 105 Baby Kits, 3,000 School Kits, 3,000 Hygiene Kits, 300 Emergency Clean-Up Buckets, valued at $107,754

— To the Lehigh County Emergency Management in Allentown, Pa.: 1,020 blankets, 1,005 Baby Kits, 1,020 Hygiene Kits, totaling $55,362

— To the Salvation Army in Hempstead, N.Y.: 990 blankets, 1,005 Baby Kits, 1,020 Hygiene Kits, with a total value of $55,187

— To the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management in Bethpage, N.Y.: 774 Emergency Clean-Up Buckets with a value of $43,344

— To the US Army Reserve in Beaver, W. Va.: 1,020 blankets, 300 Baby Kits, 1,020 School Kits, 1020 Hygiene Kits, valued at $43,167

— To the LICC Freeport Pantry in Freeport, N.Y.: 93 blankets, 435 Baby Kits, 420 School Kits, 540 Hygiene Kits, valued at $29,947

— To Church of God Christian Academy in Rockaway, N.Y.: 510 blankets, 60 Baby Kits, 510 School Kits, 540 Hygiene Kits, valued at $18,374

— To the Long Island Council of Churches in Riverhead, N.Y.: 90 blankets. 60 Baby Kits, 120 Hygiene Kits, with a total value of $4,067

The Material Resources staff are preparing two shipments to leave New Windsor bound for New York today or tomorrow, depending on timing of a delivery of blankets to the warehouse facilities:

— To Ocean Bay Community Development Corporation in Far Rockaway, N.Y.: 1,500 blankets, 1,005 Baby Kits, 1,020 School Kits, 1,020 Hygiene Kits, valued at $73,470

— To the Congregational Church for South Hempstead, in South Hempstead, N.Y.: 120 blankets, 15 baby kits, 120 school kits, 120 hygiene kits, valued at $7,797

“The initial response phase has not yet ended,” CWS warns member churches, citing the fact that the full effects of the giant storm may not yet be realized in hard hit places like New Jersey and New York, and that there is extensive damage in other states as well. In North Carolina, for example, some 400 homes were flooded. In West Virginia, where homes were destroyed by roofs collapsing under more than 24 inches of snow, additional flooding is expected from snowmelt.

CWS is seeking donations to restock of all of its kit types. Lists of contents and instructions are at www.churchworldservice.org/kits .

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