News & Updates | Posted Friday, September 13, 2019
Historic Hurricane Florence made landfall in the Carolinas on September 14, 2018. In the following days, Florence became the wettest tropical cyclone to ever hit this region causing (according to NOAA) an estimated $24 million in damages and 53 deaths. In the early days after the hurricane’s landfall, CWS began sending kits and blankets to local agencies providing relief assistance …
News & Updates | Posted Monday, September 9, 2019
SITUATION Hurricane Dorian slammed into the Bahamas on Sunday, September 1 as a Category 5, the strongest level of hurricane. The storm moved historically slowly, leaving widespread devastation in its wake. The official death toll in the Bahamas is 44, but as The New York Times reported yesterday, “The extent of the damage …in the Abaco Islands is so great, …
News & Updates | Posted Thursday, June 27, 2019
DONATE TODAY What happens to asylum seeking families who have been detained? Where do they go next? How can we help them rebuild their lives? As the situation at the border worsens, and government-run detention centers become over crowded and under-resourced, more and more families are being released onto the streets by ICE with little to nothing but the clothes …
News & Updates | Posted Tuesday, June 18, 2019
On the evening of Memorial Day, a group of 15 tornadoes touched down in western Ohio. Sweeping through with winds as powerful as 165 miles per hour, the tornadoes smashed homes, blowing out windows and peeling away roofs. They caused extensive damage in Trotwood, Harrison Township, Dayton, Beavercreek and Celina. Some of the heaviest damage happened in Trotwood, where the …
News & Updates | Posted Tuesday, June 4, 2019
The CWS Kits ministry is one that amazes me every time. I recently became the Congregational Outreach Specialist here at CWS. Every time I work with congregations — whether it’s through our Blankets program, Kits ministry or something else — their generosity and compassion warm my heart. Recently, I’ve been thinking about how the congregations who have volunteered to become …
News & Updates | Posted Thursday, May 30, 2019
UPDATE: May 30 As of May 30, shipments have included 1,560 CWS Hygiene Kits, 1,718 CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets, 150 CWS Blankets and 90 CWS School Kits. Despite low stock levels of some types of kits, we plan to continue to respond to requests for supplies in response to the tornadoes and flooding. Depending on fund availability, CWS assistance may …
News & Updates | Posted Tuesday, January 29, 2019
As I sit in the middle of the cold winter months, I often think about our neighbors that are experiencing the cold differently than my family and me. I think about our neighbors who can’t afford to keep their furnace set at 72 degrees all day long; our neighbors who spend cold winter nights in their car because they don’t …
News & Updates | Posted Friday, December 14, 2018
I was recently in a seminary on the Texas-Mexico border that had been converted into a makeshift dining room. Sitting there were 70 or so asylum-seekers—mothers and babies, teenagers, fathers—recently released from detention. They had traveled hundreds of miles from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in search of a safe life in the United States. The shelter director walked into …
News & Updates | Posted Monday, October 29, 2018
October 29, 2018 Appeal code: 628H – 2018 U.S. Hurricane Appeal This appeal serves as an update to the September 20 Hurricane Florence Appeal Situation Hurricane Florence slammed into the North Carolina coast on September 14, bringing with it historic leveling of rain. Just a few weeks later on October 10, Hurricane Michael struck the Florida panhandle with vicious force and then brought even more rain …
News & Updates | Posted Monday, October 8, 2018
Situation A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Friday, September 28. The quake, and the resulting 10-foot tsunami waves, leveled buildings and brought destruction to the city of Palu (pop. 335,000) and surrounding areas. As of October 8, the death toll has reached 1,948 people, with hundreds more missing. Thousands have been injured. Around 74,000 people have been displaced, …