Elkhart Church Participates in Disaster Drill

Red Cross staff and community volunteers discuss and evaluate the FBCI disaster drill at Central Christian Church in Elkhart.

The Elkhart County Chapter of the American Red Cross held their first mock disaster drill on March 13 at Central Christian Church in Elkhart. The drill was part of the Red Cross’s Faith Based Community Initiative (FBCI). Twelve members of Central Christian participated in the drill.

Three other Elkhart churches that were part of the exercise were Canaan Baptist, Guidance Ministries, and Community Missionary Baptist Church.

The Red Cross developed FBCI to use churches for shelters, housing persons displaced from their homes by disasters. The Red Cross provides the equipment and trains church member volunteers in all necessary activities to set up the shelter and register clients, as well as to distribute food, blankets, and care packages.

In the event of a disaster, volunteers will be able to administer the shelter for as many days as needed until the displaced persons are relocated, with overall management provided by Red Cross staff and volunteers.

The drill was conducted in two sessions. Scenarios were preplanned by the Red Cross staff. Central and one of the visiting churches acted as the host church in the morning session. The other two churches role played the part of residents displaced from a large apartment building fire. In the afternoon the parts were reversed for a scenario depicting a flooded housing development. An evaluation and critique session followed each exercise.

The volunteers from Central Christian were pleased to be a part of the FBCI and to be able to use the church building to help those in need in our community. The drill provided essential preparation for the congregation to assist their neighbors affected by a disaster.

Mike Wills serves Central Christian Church in Elkhart as Senior Minister.

Kits Blitz Generates 5,124 Hygiene Kits

On April 1, a donated trailer, courtesy of Crum Trucking, began its journey to deliver 5,124 hygiene kits, 200 baby care kits, and 1 clean-up kit to the Church World Service warehouse in New Windsor, Md. The kits were assembled in communities throughout Indiana and northern Kentucky in response to the emergency call from Church World Service to replenish the stock of these much needed kits following the disastrous earthquake in Haiti.

Volunteers from the Butler University Catholic Community, the Butler Interfaith Student Group, and other individuals assisted Judy Dunson, Church World Service Regional Director for Indiana and Kentucky, in stacking boxes in the trailer. The kits came from Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian, Lutheran, United Church of Christ, and many other churches.

More than 450 students in the fifth grade at Carmel (Ind.) Middle School rallied to generate 525 Kits as their class project.

Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indianapolis collected supplies from Central Indiana congregations and assembled almost 150 hygiene kits.

Many more churches delivered hygiene and baby care kits to a donated trailer in Elkhart during February, while others shipped their donations directly to New Windsor. Well over 2,000 hygiene and baby care kits were sent through those channels.

Many more churches and individuals sent cash donations. A number of boxes of left over supplies were included on the trailer which will be used by a new volunteer group in New Windsor to continue the assembly process.

“We are grateful to everyone who went the extra mile to answer the call for hygiene and baby care kits on such short notice,” reflected Dunson. “While kits can be sent year around, occasionally the need outstrips our supply. Church World Service responds to an average of one disaster every three days somewhere in our world. Your donations during this special drive, along with kits from across the nation, helped assure that Church World Service has the necessary resources on hand when they are needed. Thank you for helping us serve as your hands and feet in this valuable ministry.”

The Kits Blitz was featured in early March on “Religion in the News”, a program feature of WISH-TV in Indianapolis. As part of the broadcast Dunson was able to share the story of how the kits are used and how people can participate. The show generated several calls and donations.

Additional kits are always welcomed but must be shipped directly to the warehouse in New Windsor, Md. For more information, visit www.churchworldservice.org/kits, or call 888-297-2767 (toll free) or 317-923-2938.