Christian aid boosts morale
By ChristianWeek staff
Several denominations and Christian agencies have responded to the ice storm by setting up special funds or collecting and distributing supplies. Others are providing volunteer help. A group of Old Order Mennonites, for example, went to work in the rural areas of eastern Ontario cleaning up debris from trees and helping farmers with their livestock. They hand-milked cows where electric milking machines weren’t available and cleaned up stables that are normally cleaned by an automatic system.
"It’s a boost in morale," comments Dave Worth, director of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario.
World Vision Canada has opened an Eastern Canada Ice Storm Fund. "Most often the need is far away, but today it is right here in our own backyard," says WVC president Dave Toycen. "The people of Quebec and eastern Ontario have responded to global appeals through World Vision. This is our opportunity to reinvest in their community."
The Salvation Army has been present with hands-on help and through financial contributions. Canadian Lutheran World Relief, based in Winnipeg, sent a shipment of clothing, more than 900 quilts and 355 blankets, as well as toys and toiletries.
Other denominations establishing special funds include the United Church of Canada, the Presbyterian Church in Canada through Presbyterian World Service and Development, the Anglican Church of Canada through the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada District of Eastern Ontario and Quebec, the British Methodist Episcopal Church, the Council of Christian Reformed Churches in Canada, the Orthodox Church in America, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has chosen to channel funding through the Canadian Red Cross’s "Operation Winter Storm." In a letter to CCCB vice-president Gerald Wiesner, bishop of Prince George (B.C.), CCCB president, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, says he is touched "deeply" by the "solidarity of the pastors of the Church in Canada." Turcotte is archbishop of Montreal.
"In the name of my brother bishops whose dioceses are also suffering under the same catastrophe, I wish to express my profound gratitude," he writes.
