University Park United Methodist Church

Loving the world with God:
How we can respond to the crisis in Haiti

Pray
Please pray daily for those who are suffering, and for those who are providing care and assistance.

Give
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) International Disaster Response, the United Methodist's first responders, has sent a request for churches to take an offering to aid Haiti. If making your donation by check, please make it payable to UPUMC and put Haiti on the memo line. You may also donate online. One hundred percent of these contributions will be given to this cause, and nothing will be taken out for administrative purposes or overhead.

Meet tangible needs

UMCOR also needs personal health kits to take to the people of Haiti. (See A Closer Look, right, for specifics on the kits.) Please make one, or many. Your family, Sunday School class, or small group can make a huge difference.

Our church will be available as a collection point. Please feel free to pass this "recipe" to others and ask them to help as well.

Thank you for loving the world with God, especially in times of crisis and grief.

Health kits to sustain everyday life

The following kit is used in places where people do not have ready access to many essential supplies for everyday life. Please follow the directions exactly. Include all items; do not add items that are not on the lists. Extra gifts, though given with the best of intentions, render a kit unusable and must be removed. Note: All items sent must be new.

Health kits provide basic necessities to people who have been forced to leave their homes because of human conflict or natural disaster. Health kits are also used as learning tools. When people gain the knowledge and materials to maintain personal hygiene, their overall health improves.

1 hand towel (15" x 25" up to 17" x 27")

1 washcloth

1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)

1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)

1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)

1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, no child-size brushes)

6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages

$1 to purchase toothpaste (UMCOR Sager Brown is now purchasing toothpaste in bulk to be added to health kits before shipping to ensure that the product does not expire before they are sent.)

Seal these items inside a one-gallon plastic bag. Value: $12 per kit.

Important: Please do not include any religious, political or patriotic notes or emblems in any kit. Thank you for your donations. You are helping to make a difference in people's lives.

Health kits may be delivered to the Welcome Center at UPUMC, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, or Sundays.

UPUMC Life is an electronic newsletter distributed to those who have opted to receive it. If you wish to be removed from this distribution, please contact Carolyn Washburn at 469.916.9611.