CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have sent $25,000 to support recovery efforts on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, after floods and landslides struck Haiti and the Dominican Republic there May 24.
"As many as 2,000 people are feared dead and thousands of homes have been destroyed," said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for leadership development and mission personnel recruitment, ELCA Division for Global Mission.
In the Dominican Republic many people died before dawn, caught off guard by water rushing over river banks and washing away their homes while they slept, Ishida said. Authorities there have finalized the search for victims, and the official death toll is 392. There are still 270 people missing, he said. The number of destroyed houses there is estimated to be at 700.
Action by Churches Together (ACT) reported that the number of deaths in Haiti has risen to 1,073. "It is feared that this number might increase, since there are still an estimated 1,500 people missing in the area of Mapou, a town completely inundated by muddy waters. Health problems related to the buried livestock and bodies is one of the major concerns in this area," said Ishida.
Through its International Disaster Response, the ELCA sent funds to ACT for implementation by Lutheran World Federation's (LWF) World Service Haiti.
On May 28 LWF reported that food and other items were delivered to 275 families in Thiotte, a city in Haiti. "LWF hired a helicopter to deliver relief items in bigger quantities," Ishida said.
"Priority needs have been identified as food, water, clothing, hygiene and household kits for displaced families," he said.
The ELCA World Hunger Program has been supporting LWF activities in Haiti since 1998. The ELCA has been providing special response to Haiti, given its political unrest there in the past months, Ishida said.
Coordinated by the ELCA Division for Global Mission, International Disaster Response often channels its funds through international church organizations and relief agencies.
ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies that meets human need through organized emergency response. It is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and LWF, both in Geneva, Switzerland. The ELCA is a member of WCC and LWF.
LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947, the LWF now has 136 member churches in 76 countries, representing 61.7 million of the world's nearly 65.4 million Lutherans.
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INTERNATIONAL DISASTERS:
Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to survivors of major disasters outside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:
ELCA International Disaster Response PO Box 71764 Chicago, IL 60694-1764, 1-800-638-3522, or at http://www.elca.org/scriptlib/dcm/giving/idisaster.asp on the Internet.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
