Brandon, MB
The “relief supplies crises” gets worse! What is happening in Haiti right now with the major breakdown of any kind of infrastructure to get supplies from the airport to the people is not anything new or isolated to Haiti. In Myanmar, in New Orleans, in Darfur… really in every relief effort of recent history we hear the same thing; “why did it take so long to get aid to the people”? The answer is simple; the world’s relief organizations, Governments and citizens have become exceptional at raising money and getting aid to the “airports” of the effected regions – but that’s where it stops. The reality that keeps coming to the surface each time the world experiences a disaster is as Anderson Cooper recently reported; “There simply is no infrastructure to get the aid from the airports to the people effectively”.
But actually there is – its called “the Church”. In every neighborhood of every city of every nation on the earth there is a Church and there simply is no more effective social networking system on the planet than what the Church provides. And the Church is the network that Feed The Hungry works through in order to get it’s aid to the people. Our organization is being bombarded with calls and response from people of all walks of life right now as frustration grows not only in Haiti but among those who raise and send the support – people want a better way to get aid to the hurting, people are demanding it and rightly so.
Feed the Hungry is not the largest relief organization, nor the one with the deepest pockets but it is the organization that is utilizing the Church as the main conduit for relief and supplies, allowing us to have actual distribution centers set up and functioning in crucial areas of the effected regions immediately following the earthquake’s hit. If you think about it, what could possibly be better than Churches? Even people who don’t go to church are calling us wanting to send their support through Feed the Hungry as they understand how effective this is. Churches are not only in every neighborhood, but they are also already established in the minds of people as centers of compassion and care. Pastors and church leadership are already efficiently mobilized as ‘community-teams’ who know the people, know the streets, know the neighborhoods and know how to get immediate results when called upon in emergencies.
In the streets of Haiti today many millions of people are homeless, helpless and hurting. They have no idea when the aid that has been pouring in will begin to reach them but what they do know is where the local Church is and in every crises in every nation, the Church is the first place people turn.
When you help the work of Feed the Hungry you can know that your support is making a difference almost the moment you give it. When hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans I happened to be set up in Indianapolis and working the phones helping to coordinate efforts between resources we had, and Churches that could distribute and serve. I remember how even before the storm came, Feed the Hungry trucks had loaded up with supplies and driven part way down to within a few hours drive of the effected regions. This allowed them to get into the hardest hit areas literally within hours of the hurricane happening. The result was Churches in ravaged areas, full of supplies and resource helping victims with food, water and other aid as people immediately sought help and refuge from local Churches. The media made a lot of noise as to how long it took major aid to get into the region. Yet all through that time, the Church was being exactly what it was supposed to be – a place of help and strength for those in need. Thank you Feed the Hungry for what you do, and to Lester Sumrall for being obedient to God’s direction many years ago as you built Feed the Hungry into what it is today.
Today I am not set up in a go-between station close to the disaster area, far from it I am stuck in a snow storm in Southern Manitoba and attempting to find my way to Regina by tomorrow afternoon. Yet from this place I appeal to all who can, to examine the web site and the work Feed the Hungry is doing and do your best to “pour” your own support into this great organization. Our Canadian Government is matching every dollar so please give now and know you are making an immediate difference to people who so badly need our help today in Haiti.
Don Sparman
Snow trapped in Brandon, MB
