Emergency Response News Briefs

May 8, 2008 • Archive

Initial relief efforts have begun in response to Tropical Cyclone Nargis, which has killed at least 22,000 and sent twice as many missing. Staff members from the CWS Asia-Pacific regional Office are on the way to Yangon to assess the situation and work with local partners. CWS expects to provide emergency food, shelter and hygiene assistance. Donate to the CWS appeal.

CWS Emergency Domestic Staff met with representatives from other disaster response groups at the 2008 National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, or VOAD Conference in Little Rock, Ark. CWS staff were called on to present in several conference sessions, and CWS Emergency Response Specialists had a rare chance to meet face to face outside of a disaster site.

CWS Emergency Responses continues to fulfill requests for materials, including shipments to:

• All Tribes American Indian Charter School in Valley Center, Calif.: 540 CWS Hygiene Kits and 504 cleaning wipes at a value of $8,080;
• The Presbytery of Arkansas: 100 CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets, valued at $4,500;
• Catholic Charities Maine: 75 CWS Baby Kits, 270 CWS School Kits, 414 CWS Hygiene Kits, 182 CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets, and 600 packages of emergency wipes, at a value of $21,057.

As the crisis in Myanmar ( Burma) grows into a longer-term relief operation, CWS will likely be called upon to provide significant material resources. The Emergency Response Program needs help assembling CWS Emergency Clean-up Buckets & Baby Kits. Assembling kits is a great project for any church or community group. More information on CWS Kits and instructions on how to assemble them are available at http://www.churchworldservice.org/kits/index.html.