On the evening of November 10th, almost 4,000 youth and adults gathered at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, just a few miles away from the banks of the Cape Fear River that had flooded only two months earlier. By November, the floodwaters had receded, but the impact of this destructive storm remained evident for thousands of North Carolinians. Seeking to meet this need, youth at Pilgrimage 2018 contributed generously to a special offering that would go directly towards storm relief.
In early September 2018, Hurricane Florence battered North Carolina communities. By the middle of September, the youth of the NCCUMC accepted a challenge to raise $500,000 for storm recovery by June 2019. In just six weeks, the youth of our conference spread the message of a special offering at Pilgrimage 2018. By Pilgrimage 2018, our youth raised $40,880. With the generous matching of the NCCUMC, the current storm relief offering amounts to $81,760.
We hope you’ll join the youth in reaching their goal of $500,000 for storm recovery by June 2019. The NCCUMC will continue to match all donations received for the Youth Storm Response offering through Annual Conference in June 2019. You can give online today or mail a check to the NC Conference Treasurer’s Office made out to NCCUMC with a memo of “Youth Storm Response.”
On Sunday morning at Pilgrimage 2018, youth at Pilgrimage were challenged to go into the world and commit to serve others. Youth groups made public pledges to meet the needs of their sisters and brothers across North Carolina and placed these pledges by the altar. From churches across the NCCUMC, our youth made a covenant to:
- Donate school supplies and books to elementary schools in eastern NC
- Host a grilled PB&J fundraise and donate all proceeds to the storm relief offering
- Pair with local families to assist with yard work
- Give “Welcome Home” baskets to families returning to repaired homes around Christmas time
Samantha Lewis, a ninth grader from Ann Street UMC shared that her church had been responding “to the needs of the county by offering food drives, supply distribution, and work teams” but recognized that “there remains a large amount of homes and buildings in need of repair. Families and individuals, of all ages, were displaced after the hurricane. Some remain unsheltered and some are living in their damaged homes.”
How will you meet the needs of those affected by Hurricane Florence?
How will you answer God’s call to go into the world and serve those in need?