St. Stephen’s Hurricane Helene Response
St. Stephen United Methodist Church is praying in earnest for the safety and wellbeing for all those affected by the devastation in Western North Carolina. We pray for the safety and speedy recovery of those who were injured and for those who have experienced property loss and damage. Most especially, we ask for God’s peace and love for those who have lost friends, loved ones, and family.
We know that many in our own congregation and across the region are yearning for ways to assist in what will be a very long road to recovery. St. Stephen will be working to support the long-term recovery efforts led by the Western North Carolina Conference and UMCOR (the United Methodist Committee on Relief). We want our relief efforts to make a positive and constructive — not a distracting or disruptive — impact on those needing assistance. Therefore, we are asking that all St. Stephen members seek to plug in to the efforts we are and will be coordinating for church-wide participation. We ask that you refrain from one-off or ad-hoc projects, especially if those projects are not coordinated with some larger, reputable relief agency. In most cases, we will not publish to church-wide communication channels any individual or small-group projects, and we ask that you circulate such projects among your own social circles or through your small groups.
Current relief effort opportunities are listed below, current as of Oct. 25, 2024. This listing will be updated as needed.
Donations for Western North Carolina relief
Donations will be collected through the church and donated to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) and Western North Carolina Conference recovery efforts. Donate online and choose “UMCOR Flood Relief” in the designation.
Supply Donations
Donations of supplies are currently on hold as distribution centers catch up and sort the outpouring of generous support they’ve already received.