The island of St. Thomas has been completely devastated by Hurricane Irma. People have lost their homes and everything in the flooding. Today they are sleeping in shelters and in basements where whole houses stood just last week. There is no more clean water, airplanes aren’t flying to the island, and roads are impassable. St. Thomas Reformed Church’s building made it through the hurricane with little damage, but now they are left to care for their community with limited resources. They have not yet received anything from relief organizations. Still, they are feeding more than 300 people each day who are now homeless.
 |
|
|
Members of St. Thomas Reformed Church unload a boat with supplies brought to the island from Puerto Rico. Three trucks were filled from one boat trip. |
Pastor Jeff Neevel is keeping in touch with the Synod office. He has stressed that what would be the most helpful at this time is money. Rather than sending items that may be delayed or not get to the church, by sending money, the congregation at St. Thomas Reformed would be able to buy water, milk, and supplies in St. Croix and bring them to the island by boat.
Today, we need to help our brothers and sisters in St. Thomas. Send checks to:
Regional Synod of New York
42 N. Broadway Ave.
Tarrytown, NY 10591
The United Church of Christ New York Conference has graciously offered to match the first $5,000. So your donation of $500 could be immediately turned into $1,000 if you send a check now.
St. Thomas Reformed Church will receive 100 percent of the money donated. Our goal is for the New York Synod to raise $50,000 in September. Please give generously.
RESOURCES
Use the links below to print a bulletin insert to share this information with your church:
click here for a PDF
click here for Word format
For more information on the church, visit their website. (You are able to make donations directly on the website. However, those donations will not be matched and will not count toward the Synod goal.)
For regular updates on the relief efforts in St. Thomas, like and follow the church’s Facebook page.
To share an image to your social media account, encouraging others to support relief for St. Thomas Reformed church, use the links below:
For Facebook, click here
For Google+, click here
For a video featuring images of St. Thomas before and after Hurricane Irma, click below:
 |