September is National Disaster Preparedness Month. With natural disasters on the rise and the start of hurricane season, the Missouri Conference is issuing a callout for UMCOR Cleaning Kits.

Cleaning kits, or flood buckets, provide essential clean-up supplies to people who have experienced a natural disaster. Deploying kits is just one way Missouri United Methodists show up and serve when it matters most.

Getting involved is easy: We're asking you to commit in September, but you can build any time this fall.

If giving a monetary donation is easier, you can do so by giving via our online portal and indicating "UMCOR Cleaning Kits" in the comment line. If you'd like to give by check, mail it to Missouri Annual Conference of the UMC, 3601 Amron Court, Columbia, MO, 65202, and put " UMCOR Cleaning Kits" in the memo line.

Connecting Neighbors Training

Additionally, the Missouri Conference is encouraging local churches to consider participating in UMCOR’s Connecting Neighbors program. Connecting Neighbors equips congregations with a compassionate, strategic outreach method that enables them to respond quickly and meaningfully after a disaster. Connecting Neighbors churches commit to disaster preparedness in service to the community.

Congregations that invest time in the Connecting Neighbors training are better prepared to serve their community when disaster strikes. By building connections and knowing the neighborhood before disaster strikes, United Methodist Churches that have completed the Connecting Neighbors training are able to draw on local resources more quickly and better serve their community in the wake of disaster.

The Missouri Conference is looking for 40 churches to take the Connecting Neighbors training. Churches can opt-in by contacting Conference Disaster Response Coordinator Bambi Wheeler or by selecting this option when committing to build flood buckets.

Questions? Contact Bambi Wheeler at [email protected]