UMCOR and Red Cross: Disaster Relief in Action

Story and Pictures By: Amy Miller, Kentucky Region

Sleeves up. Hearts open. All in.

These six words embody the spirit of the American Red Cross. For nearly two weeks, the Red Cross has been "all in" in Kentuckiana. Hundreds of volunteers have left their daily lives behind to provide comfort and hope to residents who have been impacted by widespread flooding.

They haven't been alone.

Red Cross partners from across the state have rolled up their sleeves to help disaster workers respond and recover from this disaster.

The United Methodist Church is one of many local partners that stepped up and got to work when flooding began. As part of the partnership during the flood response, the United 

Methodist Church has supplied the Red Cross with nearly 2,000 buckets filled with cleaning supplies to help residents of Kentucky begin to recover. 2,000 buckets—that's enough to fill a semi-truck. These cleaning supplies are being distributed by Red Cross and UMCOR volunteers to impacted areas across the state.

"What the community sees [during this disaster response] is that it's not just one group, " said Jim Morse, disaster response coordinator for the Kentucky Annual Conference of the 

United Methodist Church. "It's multiple people, multiple organizations working together."

Throughout the year, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) creates and stores flood clean up kits and personal hygiene kits to pass out at shelters during disasters. Churches from all over the nation send supplies for these kits—toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, mops and buckets. Virtually every Methodist church lends a hand at one time or another—they go all in.

"I think it's very important for the community to see the Red Cross, the Cross and Flame, 

Southern Baptists, Catholic Charities—all the different parts and pieces of disaster response working together." Morse  said. "We serve the same people."

These "people" are the residents who stayed in Red Cross shelters hosted by Methodist Churches. These "people" are the folks who received buckets and mops and bleach from Red Cross and Methodist volunteers from across Kentuckiana.

When asked why the United Methodists wanted to partner with the Red Cross, Morse said that it seemed like a good partnership, and an opportunity for the United Methodists to gain experience in short-term disaster response. 

"We have an opportunity to see if we could make relationships we may not have had in the past with Red Cross, and work side by side with them for the people. When you can get that type of cooperation, everybody benefits."

More than 400 Red Cross disaster workers from across the region and country are on the ground in Kentucky and Southern Indiana, providing hope, care, and comfort to those impacted by flooding. That work would not be possible without partners, such as the United Methodist Church, who roll their sleeves up, keep their hearts open, and go all in.