News & Updates | Posted Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Overview: Europe continues to do battle against extreme weather, as plunging temperatures and heavy snowfall sweep through large parts of the continent. The cold snap that has killed 480 people to date – about a quarter in eastern Europe, and many of them homeless – shows no signs of stopping, while hundreds of Eastern European villages remain cut off because …
News & Updates | Posted Monday, January 23, 2012
Appeal Number 627-T Appeal Goal: $30,000 Situation: Over the last 24 hours, widespread storms hit the Middle Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Large hail, high straight line winds and tornadoes have been reported in Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky. There are power outages in Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee. The storm system is still very significant and could bring on …
News & Updates | Posted Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Over the years the members of Wilson Congregational Church in Windsor, Conn have supported Church World Service programs with Blankets+ offerings, CROP Hunger Walks and other support. But their final gift might be the most meaningful. The congregation’s $175,000 gift to CWS came from the sale of their church building, a final act of philanthropy at the end of years …
News & Updates | Posted Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Situation: Hurricane Irene has left extensive flood and wind damage from Puerto Rico to Maine, as well as causing at least 40 deaths; more than 4 million homes are still without power and more than 10,000 people are in FEMA shelters. Preliminary damage assessments are just starting so there are no numbers yet available of homes destroyed and damaged. In …
News & Updates | Posted Monday, May 16, 2011
Even though Shells Evangelical Lutheran Church, Grantville, Pennsylvania suffered a fire in their sanctuary and social hall by an arsonist, they still collected donations for the CWS Blankets+ program and will be collecting donations for the tools project in June. Shells’ congregation “gets it” and reaches out to those in need no matter what! Shells Church mission statement is: “We …
News & Updates | Posted Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Situation: Numerous states have been devastated or impacted by severe storms, flooding and hundreds of tornadoes in April and May. The storms and tornadoes ranged from Oklahoma to the Carolinas. States most severely impacted have been Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. But there was also significant damage in Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana …
News & Updates | Posted Wednesday, February 9, 2011
As full-time residents on an island in Alaska, I think the people of Sitka are hearty survivalists. They understand being prepared in an emergency. Perhaps that’s why this community identified so closely with the concept of a CWS Kit. A note about the kits they recently shipped to our warehouse in Arkansas explains: Ours is a small congregation on an …
News & Updates | Posted Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The shockwaves from the earthquake that ravaged Haiti also swept across the Haitian-American community. It was not unusual to have lost five, 10, even 20 family members in the rubble. Everyone heard story after heart-wrenching story of death, injury, and loss of home and livelihood. Survivors’ pleas for help from their U.S.-based kin multiplied. A year later, the Haitian-American community …
News & Updates | Posted Monday, January 10, 2011
Port-au-Prince, Haiti — Media coverage of the first year since the devastating January 12, 2010, earthquake is focused on government inaction, the slow pace of recovery and the seeming inability of Haiti to recover. But the story has another side: Haitians helping Haitians, say Church World Service staff and CWS partners in anticipation of this week’s anniversary. “One year after …