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Presbyterians give generously

An outpouring of concern

Presbyterians have contributed $1.2 million since Sept. 11 terror attacks

by Evan Silverstein, Presbyterian News Service

[10-26-01]

ALSO: 
Church World Service is expanding its Afghan refugee aid to provide both family shelter kits and 6-months supplies of food. [10-26-01]

LOUISVILLE - 23-October-2001 - Members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have opened up their pocketbooks to support relief efforts in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Presbyterians have contributed more than $1.2 million through PC(USA) channels since the Sept. 11 strikes, according to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), which is coordinating the denomination's assistance effort. More than $300,000 was collected in the first two weeks after the attacks.

Six weeks after the tragedies, donations have slowed but are still coming in at a steady pace, PDA officials say.

"It's a very generous response from the church," said Stan Hankins, the PDA's associate for U.S. disaster response. "I'm not sure where it's going to top out at."

Presbyterian contributions, which have ranged from $5 to $27,000, came primarily through church offerings, congregation mission budgets and individual donations made over PDA's Internet Web site.  Among the contributors were partner churches of the PC(USA), such as the Presbyterian Church in Canada, which gave $6,000.

PDA has used some of the money to support a variety of initiatives, including $110,000 New York City Presbytery is using to help survivors and others affected by the attacks.

PDA also sent $20,000 to Church World Service (CWS), the relief and development arm of the National Council of Churches, to cover part of its disaster-response expenses, including the placement of consultants in the field to help coordinate and plan the ecumenical response to the tragedy.

Funds also were provided to Faith and Values.com for a live Internet "Webcast" on Oct. 22, a discussion of faith-based responses and resources.

According to Hankins, officials at New York City Presbytery will use some of the money to meet the direct needs of disaster survivors, including families that lost loved ones. "Secondary" survivors, including those who lost jobs or income because of the attacks, also will benefit.

"The presbytery will be working closely with governmental and voluntary agencies to ensure that no one is overlooked, and that aid is distributed according to need," Hankins said. "The economic impact ... is widespread, and affects tens of thousands of people."

Funds also will be used to offset expenses the presbytery has incurred in organizing its response. This includes the cost of hiring a coordinator and establishing an administrative commission to manage the effort. Some donations also will be used to organize retreats for church leaders and their spouses and to pay for pastoral-care training.

In addition, some of the money will be used to meet the needs of people forced out of their homes by the destruction; to pay for long-term counseling and pastoral care for survivors and caregivers; and to enable presbyteries in the New York City area to hire counselors to care for pastors and church leaders.

"We will continue to work closely with affected presbyteries in the New York City area on ways to identify how the funds can be used to assist those most in need," Hankins said.

Shortly after the attacks, PDA gave $10,000 to the Presbytery of New York City to help with its relief efforts. Another $10,000 went to Church World Service to help cover the cost of its immediate response.

On the international front, PDA has provided $450,000 from designated giving and the One Great Hour of Sharing offering to CWS-Pakistan to pay for shelter kits and food for Afghan refugees. Another $50,000 went to the Middle East Council of Churches for refugee relief in Iran.

Americans nationwide have raised more than $1 billion for the relief effort, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The American Red Cross has received the most - about $452 million. On-line donations topped $52 million in the first three weeks, but have fallen off to just about $2 million in the past two weeks. Local chapters across the country have reported many single donations in excess of $5,000.

The September 11th Fund, created by the New York Community Trust and the United Way of New York City, has raised $171 million. About $150 million was raised through a September 14th telethon, United Way is overseeing the distribution of that money. Three high-powered benefit concerts to aid terrorist victims, held last weekend in New York, Washington DC, and Nashshville, TN, raised more than $17 million.

The Salvation Army has raised about $35 million, and the Families for Freedom Scholarship Fund, endorsed by Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, has raised $8.9 million to underwrite the education of the children of the attack victims.

 

 
 

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BECOMING NEIGHBORS:
An Invitation
to Global Discipleship

A Witherspoon conference
on global mission and justice

September 16 - 19, 2007
Louisville, Kentucky

 

Check out our report from the Conference
on
Terror, Torture,
and Security

 

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