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Disaster Response Team Acts during COVID-19

by | Mar 31, 2020 | Disaster Response

In a time of stay-at-home orders, troubling statistics, and vulnerable populations, UMCOR and the conference Disaster Response Committee are deploying resources . UMCOR donated more than 80,000 masks stored at the Sager Brown Depot to first responders in Louisiana. According to the UMCOR Facebook page: “Originally intended for relief kits to be made in the future, the sealed and unopened cartons of masks will now go to an area where virus cases have spread faster than anywhere else in the world.”

As important, but on a much smaller scale, the Conference Disaster Response Coordinators delivered masks and Tyvek suits from our disaster response  trailer to an under-supplied hospital on the Navajo reservation, Shiprock Navajo Nation Hospital, which was inundated with an many new Covid-19 cases in the past few days.

Currently in the Verde Valley there 3,500 families in of assistance and the food bank only has 25% of its usual from donations. As with all food banks, a monetary donation is multiplied by the organization’s ability to purchase bulk quantities from government and other sources as opposed to receiving miscellaneous donations from churches of non-perishable goods. To link to the Valley Verde food bank website for more information or to make a donation, please go to https://www.manzanitaoutreach.org.

Each food bank in the conference inevitably has the need for donations and volunteers. St. Mary’s Food Bank provides food to more than 600 nonprofit organization throughout Arizona (https://www.firstfoodbank.org). In Tucson, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona provides community meals, emergency food boxes, and meals to seniors (https://www.communityfoodbank.org). In Las Vegas, Three Square is providing breakfast and lunch during school closures; distributes food through 43 emergency sites; and assists seniors (https://www.threesquare.org). Helping through any of these programs or those in your locale is critically needed and appreciated.

Together we will make an impact.

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Author: Connectional Ministries

The Desert Southwest Conference is a diverse and loving organization with open doors to a variety of people and partners in ministry. Celebrating our connection and diversity, we offer various resources. Content on this site includes information from other organizations that may not reflect the official policies or Social Principles of The United Methodist Church or the Desert Southwest Conference.

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