THE LATEST INFORMATION, INCLUDING COASTAL VIRGINIA DISTRICT BUCKET DROP-OFF LOCATIONS

Flood buckets: All of the kits that we collected at this past year’s Annual Conference and past year’s Annual Conference are being deployed into the areas of most need– so thank you! Now we will need more. Starting today, we will collect flood buckets to help replenish the UMCOR Mission Central depot. This ensures that every area that Helene has impacted can get timely assistance.

Drop off a bucket at Coastal Virginia Drop Off Locations:

Instructions for bucket assembly found here. We’d encourage flood buckets to be built and delivered to drop off sites by Sunday, October 13. Buckets will then come to Glen Allen to be blessed and delivered to Mission Central by October 16. The conference is looking into an additional date for later in October, we will update as information is received. 

OTHER WAYS TO HELP

Volunteering your time to be present: 

We utilize something known as the Early Response Team certification to ensure people who will be onsite in disaster response have appropriate training to go and help. Remember – the first rule is do no harm. If you are ERT certified, thank you! You will be receiving an email communication from your team leader about the next steps very soon. If you are not ERT certified but want to be a part of an on-the-ground response team to assist with relief efforts, we are organizing multiple trainings around the Annual Conference in the coming weeks. Today we can share that trainings are scheduled for…

1. Saturday, October 26 in the Coastal Virginia District

2. Saturday, November 9 in the Richmond Area

3. More details will follow for both and any additional training that will be offered.

Financial Generosity: 

Right now, financial gifts are one of the biggest sources of impact to help with these relief efforts. When you give to disaster relief through UMCOR, 100% of your gift goes to support this work. All of this information and the opportunity to help has a landing space: vaumc.org/helene. 

How to Support Flood Buckets with Financial Gifts: 

To help streamline financial generosity, local churches and individuals can use this link: 
https://www.cognitoforms.com/NoVaUMC2/FloodBucketSupport.

Contributions can be made in three distinct capacities:

• To cover the suggested donation for sponges and shipping of flood buckets ($3/bucket x total number of buckets).
• To cover the cost of a flood bucket if folks are unable to make one ($75/bucket)
• To make a general donation to be used towards buckets in whatever way is needed. 

If you have churches or members who would prefer to give via check, please make all checks payable to “Virginia Conference UMC” with “Flood Buckets/Kits (Advance #5041)” in the memo line.

Mail to:

Treasurer
Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church
P.O. Box 5606 
Glen Allen, VA 23058

We will continue to be in communication about ways you can make a difference and be in connection with those most impacted by Hurricane Helene. Additionally, we are in the process of preparing our disaster response tool trailers and shower trailers to be sent out to impacted areas when we receive the invitation for them.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to The Office of Missional Engagement by email at missions@vaumc.org. Thank you so much for bearing witness to the love of God in this time. Please be praying, be preparing, and be providing. This is the power and the beauty of what it means to be a church in connection.