Category: Local Conference

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Disaster Response Hurricanes Local Conference

Columbia Union Conference Prepares Buckets for Islands

Volunteers from the Chesapeake, Potomac, and the Allegheny East Conference joined together in Coatesville, Pennsylvania to pack flood buckets for the Hurricane Maria survivors in the Islands. Along with the Rotary, YMCA, and the local African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, they prepared a total of 1,616 super-packed buckets of supplies for household cleaning, dishes and laundry including heavy duty trash bags, mask, gloves, clotheslines, clothespins, and etc.

The prepared flood buckets were then taken to Baltimore and placed on a rail to Miami. The Inter-American Division retrieved them and placed them on smaller vessels to be shipped to the Islands based on assessments of volunteers on the various Islands. Before the buckets were ready for delivery, they were opened and thoroughly inspected. The volunteers had to go through a strenuous task of sorting packed buckets that had bleach in order to remove them since they made the load hazardous. They were able to retrieve 90 bottles of bleach. Forklifts and drivers were also donated by the Columbia Union Conference.

The NAD ACS DR Director, W. Derrick Lea, expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the Columbia Union ACS DR Teams for connecting with the Inter-American Division and carrying out this project in a commendable fashion.

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Local Conference NEWS

Spokane Valley Community Garden

The Upper Columbia Conference is enhancing its outreach ministry by involving the Spokane Valley Adventist Church Community Garden as an official ministry of Adventist Community Services. The purpose of this project is to teach gardening to the community, inspire culinary experimentation, and provide food to those in need. “This is a wonderful opportunity to see how God is working in opening more and more doors,” said Patty Marsh, UCC ACS Director.

The idea of transforming a two-acre plot of vacant land into a community garden was started by Rupert Salmon, a member of the Spokane Valley Church. He and his team started on the project in February of this year by building beds. They are working in partnership with the Latter-day Saints, Catholics, as well as the Mormons in the area.

Community gardens have been a part of ACS ministry for a very long time. Particularly, the Northern CA Conference has been proactively engaged with its opportunity under Dr. Gordon Botting’s leadership. There are approximately 40 churches that have developed community gardens in the NCA Conference. “The Spokane Valley Adventist Church is being a recognizable, tangible, and a visible sign of God’s mission in Spokane,” stated Sung Kwon, NAD ACS Executive Director.

Click Here for More Information.

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Disaster Response Floods Local Conference

Heavy Rains Cause Flooding in Wisconsin

The state of Wisconsin has experienced devastating floods in the past few days. As the torrential rains continue to pour down, the tally of damaged homes keeps rising. There have been reports of more than 4200 homes damaged or even completely destroyed. Businesses were also heavily impacted by the flood; 26 businesses are reported with damage and 11 businesses were fully destroyed.

Multiagency resource centers have been opened throughout the three counties that were affected in the southeastern area, to meet the needs of the survivors. Each county has local organizations that are taking care of the donations for that county. Volunteers have been meeting at the Mt. Zion Christian Church at 7:30 and 12:30 daily to go out and help with cleanup. The West Central region of the state was also heavily impacted by flooding and damaging winds. Four shelters have been set up in that area.

Let us remember all those who have been affected by this disaster.

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Disaster Response Donations Local Conference

Louisiana Kitchen Kit Project

The State of Louisiana is still in the process of recovering from the devastating floods that swept across the state in August 2016. One of the areas that were severely hit was Baton Rouge, which alone received a tremendous amount of rain in two days that it caused more than ten rivers to overflow. A federal disaster declaration was issued for over 20 parishes. Over 150,000 families have applied for assistance from the government.

ACS has been in regular contact with Louisiana State, the Louisiana Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), and FEMA, identifying the needs of the affected communities and coordinating relief efforts. It was found that the greatest unmet need was for kitchen kits to allow families to prepare, serve, and eat meals in their own homes. The ARK-LA Conference ACS Disaster Response Management Team, led by Lavida Whitson, coordinated the ACS response to this emergency with the support of ACS volunteers from several other conferences.

The needs of each family who applied for FEMA assistance were thoroughly evaluated, and resources were made available to them to assist in their recovery. ADRA provided the funds to purchase 450 kitchen kits; each kit was constituted of 83 pieces. The families who were eligible to receive the kits were scheduled for a distribution event in their corresponding parish. The kits were loaded into a truck and transported to the distribution sites, which had banners of ADRA and ACS hanging at each of the sites. They were then distributed by ACS teams to the designated families in the five most affected parishes. ACS-operated multi-agency warehouses were utilized to store the kitchen kits securely prior to distribution.

Overall, this was a very successful project in assisting families in need following the flooding. Adventist Community Services appreciates the Grant funds provided by ADRA. This project would not have been possible without this assistance. We also would like to acknowledge all of the volunteers, workers, and staff of the Disaster Response Team for their continued dedicated efforts in the Recovery process.

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Disaster Response Local Conference Tornadoes

Texas ACS Responds to New Orleans Tornado Disaster

New Orleans was hit by a tornado on February 8, 2017. Texas Adventist Community Services was asked to bring the clothing truck to New Orleans to distribute clothing outfits to those affected by the tornado. They served 115 families (342 very appreciative people) on Sunday afternoon. On Monday, February 13 they served clothing packs, personal care kits, blankets, and sheets.They are working in cooperation with Catholic Charities whose church and school are in the actual disaster zone.

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Disaster Response Educational Local Conference

Perspectives on ACS at National Mass Care Exercise

On August 22-25, the NAD Adventist Community Services led out in the National Mass Care Exercise (NMCE), which was developed by the Iowa-Missouri Conference ACS Director, Jody Dickhaut. The purpose is to simulate an actual crisis event and determine how a community would respond during a major disaster. Other NGOs that participated in this unprecedented Exercise included The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), State Emergency Management, Red Cross, Salvation Army, and etc.

Duane Hallock, an Adventist church member, is the Regional Communications Director for the American Red Cross of Greater Kansas City, Missouri. Being an Adventist, Hallock was quite impressed to see the Church actively involved in serving communities around the nation. “I listened in as Jody Dickhaut conducted his morning briefing, and it was obvious that considerable planning and preparation had already been done. I was given renewed confidence in the ability of Adventists to respond quickly and effectively when needed,” says Hallock.

Hallock added, “I always show up on the scene of a disaster and look for “my people” – those wearing red vests. When I showed up for this exercise, I noticed that wherever I looked I also saw a large number of people in golden yellow shirts. As a Seventh-day Adventist, I was filled with pride knowing that these were also “my people” – volunteers with the Adventist Community Services Disaster Response.”

Hallock was not only pleased to see the work the Adventist Church is doing, but also with the relationships ACS is developing with our peer organizations. “Once during the drill, I noticed how both groups – those in yellow shirts and those in red vests – were co-mingling. Again, I was overcome with pride as I saw all of “my people” working together seamlessly to serve the humanitarian needs of our hurting world”, stated Hallock.

Categories
Community Development Local Conference NEWS

STEAM Ahead – ACS Ministry

STEAM Ahead @ Discovery Junction is one of the latest outreach ministries of Adventist Community Services in the Upper Columbia Conference. This six-month old ministry constitutes of an after-school enrichment program, as well as summer camp learning opportunities every year. STEAM is an integration program that will engage students hands-on in the field of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. They’ve had a six-week course for two hours a day that included Forensic Science, Biology, and Lego Robotics. The students have also planted 4 x 4 gardens which are producing successfully. Other activities include music, games, arts and crafts, building bird houses, character-building activities, and etc.

Now that public schools have started for the new school year, the program will get going once again. A local engineering firm has offered to regularly send engineers to teach a segment probably once a month. They have also included programs for senior citizens and English language study lessons for non-native speakers. “Since Discovery Junction houses 12 new computers, I see potential for ESL classes or Eldercare enrichment,” says Patty Marsh, ACS Director of Upper Columbia Conference. The Spokane Better Living Center now includes a fall-prevention exercise class that meets twice a week for their over 60 age group (Eldercare).

After receiving the Compassion Grant of $15,000 from the NAD Ministerial Department to continue making a difference in the community, they would like to make a promotion video in the next few months. They are excited about their new venture and are looking for volunteers who could offer their assistance and expertise in various activities, so Discovery Junction can expand. Click here to read more about the program: http://www.uccsda.org/News/News2016-08-17

Paul Hoover, President of Upper Columbia Conference, hands the Grant of $15,000 check to Pr. Dayv Lounsbury of Spokane Central SDA Church. Photo Credit: Art Lenz
Categories
Disaster Response Floods Local Conference

ACS Launches Furniture Warehouse

ACS is planning to open a furniture warehouse in Richmond, TX (Brazoria County, southwest of Houston) in the ongoing response to the recent devastating floods that occurred in June. ACS has been operating a multi-agency warehouse in Angelton, TX, under the direction of Linda Walker, Southwest Region Conference, and also a distribution center at the Richwood Spanish Church. Several volunteers from our local churches have been actively involved. ACS has now been requested to set up a furniture warehouse to meet the ongoing needs of those affected by the floods. This entire response is a combined effort of Texas Conference and Southwest Region churches.