Hurricane Helene
Disaster Relief

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

As pictures, videos, and stories emerge from the western part of North Carolina following Hurricane Helene, our hearts are devastated for the suffering of our neighbors. We know that many families at Hayes Barton UMC have also been impacted personally or within their families because of the storm. It is a Christian impulse born out of love that urges us to help our neighbors in times of disaster and distress. Our Methodist teaching tells us to Do Good, to Do No Harm, and to Stay in Love with God. We practiced these three spiritual truths during the Covid-19 Pandemic. And, we are now called to practice them again.

 

In this first week following the storm, we have compiled some ways to help our neighbors. Working directly with the North Carolina Conference and the Western North Carolina Conferences of The United Methodist Church and other partner organizations, below is a list of ways that your family can offer immediate support. In the coming weeks we will provide you with other ways to offer support as the needs change.  

 

Do no harm.

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• It is tough to wait to help when the need is so great. But, please, don’t go to western North Carolina now. This week is the time for first responders, emergency workers, FEMA, and local governments to give support. By staying off the roads, we are allowing the trained workers to provide aide. Right now, we need to allow the helpers to do their work.

 

Do good.

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• Monetary donations to trusted organizations are critical to the relief effort. Go to www.wnccumc.org and click on the Hurricane Helene Response to get updates and to make a monetary donation directly to the Western North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church. You can also donate to The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), a part of the Global Ministries of The UMC, who have been helping with disaster relief for generations.

• Donate items for Flood Buckets to be delivered directly through the NC Conference’s MERCI Center. Click here for the signup genius, purchase some of the items listed, and mark what you’ve purchased. You may drop those items off in the Fellowship Hall beginning today and continuing through Thursday afternoon.

• You may also donate money for flood buckets. Each flood bucket costs between $75 and $100 to prepare. If you’re able to donate the cost of one – or several! – flood buckets, you may do so online at https://www.hbumc.org/give by choosing “Disaster Relief” from the drop down menu and including “flood buckets” in the memo line.

• On Thursday, October 3 from 7:00-8:00pm, we will gather in the Fellowship Hall to prepare flood buckets. All are welcome. We will be holding an evening prayer service for the Hurricane Helene victims on Thursday at 6:30pm before the flood bucket preparation.

• HBUMC Youth will pack flood buckets on Sunday evening, October 6, during their UMYF gathering from 6:00-8:00pm. All 6th-12th grade students are welcome!

• Our Hayes Barton United Methodist Preschool is collecting items to be taken to western North Carolina’s McDowell County Chamber of Commerce that is working directly with FEMA. The immediate needs that you may drop off at the Reid Street (preschool) entrance are bottled water, non-perishable food, baby food, baby formula, and MREs. You may drop those off beginning today.

 

Stay in love with God.

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• Please join us for an evening prayer service focused on our neighbors suffering the effects of Hurricane Helene. We will gather on Thursday, October 3, at 6:30pm in the Sanctuary prior to the Flood Bucket Preparation event. Feel free to invite friends and neighbors to worship with us.

• We have heard from so many of you about people and situations in western North Carolina – impacted parents, siblings, and children, college students, and loss of property. If you have a particular hurricane-related prayer request, we would like to include those requests in a separate prayer bookmark in our Sunday morning worship bulletins. Please email your request to prayer@hbumc.org, and we will include it in the worship bulletin. If you have a private prayer request that you would not like to be included in the bulletin, please make a note of that in your email.

• Finally, pray with a prayer from Bishop Ken Carter of the Western North Carolina Conference:

 

O God, we place our trust in you.

As the wind and rain has passed through the mountains

 of Western North Carolina, we name before you

those whose lives have been devastated.

We especially remember those who have lost so much,

those with the fewest options, the most vulnerable.

Draw near to those who are the most exposed,

the most frightened, the most overwhelmed.

Hold space for a stillness and a peace even in the midst of the storm.

 

O God, we place our trust in you. 

In the aftermath of ravaging wind and surging flood,

inspire those who give themselves for others.

Let that work be done justly, wisely, safely, generously.

Help us to turn toward one another in our need.

Strengthen our bonds of connection and love for each other.

 O God, we place our trust in you,

and we say these words in the strong name of Jesus.

Amen.

 

Your siblings in Christ,

The Pastors and Staff of Hayes Barton United Methodist Church