Friends,
Hurricane Sally made landfall on September 16, 2020, which was 16 years to the day that Hurricane Ivan damaged the same area. To date there has been close to 60,000 individuals who have registered for FEMA assistance. Almost $30 million in FEMA grants have been issued to affected residents. We have transitioned out of what we call our relief phase (food, water, shelter, electricity, and immediate access needs), and into our recovery phase (continued debris removal and home repair). We continue to have a need for volunteers who can do mucking and gutting, tree work, and debris removal. The Covid virus, as well as the multiple disasters throughout our country, have made it difficult for us to enlist the number of volunteers needed for recovery. We have taken several steps to ensure that we can help provide adequate social distancing and PPE standards for our volunteer teams. We ask that you would consider making multiple trips to the Hurricane Sally affected area from your home church.
We are also hoping to be able to share in the near future about potential grants that we have applied for through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). In the meantime, we are creating a program for churches to partner with families. If you are interested in providing either financial assistance or volunteer labor towards a family in need, we would love to hear from you! As we begin our case management process we will be identifying families who are interested in this recovery adoption process. For more details on this please email
disasterresponse@awfumc.org.
Thank you for the many ways you continue to respond through our connection. We welcome your prayers as we help to those who need it most.
With Gratitude,
Rev. Chris Ackerman
AWF Disaster Response Director
