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Brethren Disaster Ministries issues update on Hurricane Dorian response

Hurricane Dorian (courtesy of NOAA)

Children’s Disaster Services (CDS), a program of Brethren Disaster Ministries, stood ready to assist where needed once Hurricane Dorian made its impact on the US. The American Red Cross requested CDS deploy two teams to provide childcare in evacuation centers in North Carolina prior to the hurricane’s arrival. Two additional teams were on stand-by for South Carolina but were not deployed. The North Carolina teams were needed for only a few days. As a domestic program, it is not likely that CDS will be asked to respond in the Bahamas.

Brethren Disaster Ministries monitored Dorian’s progress as it moved across the southern Atlantic Ocean. As news emerged of the massive destruction in the Bahamas, loss of life, and displacement of survivors there, Brethren Disaster Ministries began identifying possible partner organizations with a presence in the Bahamas or who are planning emergency response or long-term recovery efforts. These include fellow members of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) and Church World Service (CWS).

Staff also are seeking ways that Brethren Disaster Ministries and its volunteers can support immediate clean-up and future rebuilding efforts in areas impacted by Dorian in the US, in coordination with church leaders, CWS, and others.

The Church of the Brethren Material Resources warehouse at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., stands ready to ship CWS disaster relief kits and other materials to the areas affected by Hurricane Dorian.

How you can help

— Give to the Emergency Disaster Fund to support the Church of the Brethren disaster relief work. Go to www.brethren.org/edf and choose the Hurricane Response option or mail a donation to the Emergency Disaster Fund: Hurricane Response,  Church of the Brethren, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120.

— Volunteer with Brethren Disaster Ministries at a rebuilding project site. Go to www.brethren.org/bdm for more information about how to volunteer or contact tgoodger@brethren.org or 410-635-8730. The ministry’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bdm.cob offers updates on its work.

— Volunteer with Children’s Disaster Services. Find out about upcoming volunteer training workshops at www.brethren.org/cds . The CDS Facebook page offers updates at www.facebook.com/cds.cob . Contact CDS by email at cds@brethren.org .

— Build disaster relief kits for distribution by CWS, a long-term partner of Brethren Disaster Ministries. CWS is calling for hygiene kits, school kits, and clean-up buckets to help with Hurricane Dorian response. More than 1,050 of these kits as well as blankets have been mobilized for Hurricane Dorian relief, and requests are still coming in. For information on making kits go to https://cwskits.org . To deliver kits to the Brethren Service Center for processing and distribution contact gthompson@brethren.org .

— Plan a fundraiser.

— Pray for all those affected by the hurricane and those who are serving the survivors.

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