UCC ups fundraising goal to $3 million for hurricane relief
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Written by J. Bennett Guess | |
Tuesday, 06 September 2005 | |
UCC leaders announced today (Sept. 6) that its members and congregations will need to raise at least $3 million to support longterm hurricane relief and recovery. “As this tragedy continues to unfold, we see the need for resources for longterm recovery,” said Susan Sanders, the UCC’s minister for the global sharing of resources. “Knowing the generosity of UCC members and friends, we are confident that we will meet our goal.” As of Sept. 5, online contributions to the UCC’s “Hope Shall Bloom” hurricane recovery initiative had surpassed the $100,000 mark. “As of yesterday evening, we had received a total of $100,434 in online contributions for relief efforts related to Hurricane Katrina,” reported the Rev. George Graham of the UCC’s financial development ministry. Graham and others worked over the Labor Day weekend to process church members’ web-based gifts. However, Graham expects the number of online gifts to grow even more significantly in coming days as UCC members and congregations begin to grasp the enormity of the disaster and contemplate how best to offer their support. In addition to the one-week tally of online fundraising, Sanders reported that on Sept. 6, the hurricane relief fund received $12,240 from contributions sent to the UCC's national offices in Cleveland through the U.S. postal service. Already, according to Sanders, the UCC has made significant pledges of financial support to:
The UCC's national setting is also wiring a portion of the donated funds directly to the UCC’s Southeast and South Central Conferences so that money will be available immediately as local needs arise, Sanders said. |