5 Florida United Methodist Review Online

Churches accept the Challenge, relieve poverty

LAKELAND — Supplies for more than 1,000 flood buckets filled the Florida Conference’s new disaster response truck twice as Florida churches responded to the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s Flood Bucket Challenge. The conference’s goal was to collect enough basic cleaning supplies to fill 500 buckets that will be distributed worldwide to help people begin the disaster recovery process.

Dr. Beverly Mason, a member of First United Methodist Church, Dunedin, presented Larry Rankin, Florida Conference Council on Ministries Missions Ministries staff person, with a check for $4,500, enough to fill 100 flood buckets. The Dunedin church’s gift was the largest single donation in the challenge.

Florida Conference churches also gave more than $72,000 to the Council of Bishops’ Initiative on Children and Poverty (BICAP) through special offerings taken at the conference event. Those gifts bring the total giving to BICAP from Florida churches to more than $363,131. Of that amount, $256,700 has been given as grant money to 95 churches and ministries throughout the conference.

A young volunteer responds to the Flood Bucket challenge by bring a bucket and cleaning supplies to the Dare to Share Jesus 1999 Florida Annual Conference Event community dinner Tuesday night. By the end of the event, conference churches had given more than $5000 in money and suplies to the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

Photo by Larry Rankin