UMCOR Establishes Depot in Salt Lake City

The Directors of The United Methodist Committee on Relief have decided to establish a Western United States Warehouse Depot and Field office in Utah. Over the last two days, Rachel Simeon, Associate General Secretary of UMCOR and Lisa Jackson, a program consultant from UMCOR, along with Jim Gulley, Rocky Mountain Conference Mission Secretary, Glenda Ulmer, Utah/Western District Superintendent and Skip Strickland, Director of Mission and Ministry for the RMC, had the pleasure to bring this good news to local church pastors and lay members of our United Methodist Churches in Utah. Logistical details and warehouse location are still to be worked out. But it is hoped that the warehouse and field office would be up and running sometime after the first of the year. More information will be released as in becomes available.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is the not-for-profit global humanitarian aid organization of the United Methodist Church. UMCOR works in more than 80 countries worldwide, including the United States. UMCOR's mission, grounded in the teachings of Jesus, is to alleviate human suffering-whether caused by war, conflict or natural disaster, with open hearts and minds to all people. UMCOR responds to natural or civil disasters that are interruptions of such magnitude that they overwhelm a community's ability to recover on its own.

The Salt Lake depot will help supplement the UMCOR Sager Brown depot located in Baldwin LA. Sager Brown has served as the primary UMCOR aid distribution site for a number of years. The depot in Utah, along with another planned for the Philippines, will allow UMCOR additional flexibility and ability to send assistance to persons impacted by natural disasters throughout the United States and the world.

The administrative cost of UMCOR is funded by your generous contributions to the "One Great Hour of Sharing," offering that next year will be collected on Sunday, March 22, 2009. Mark your calendars now. The money from this offering allows UMCOR to send your donated supplies and funds directly to places and people in need.

Sometimes we think our contribution to General Church ministries end up in black holes. But I bear witness that more often than not, our contributions produce "quasars of goodness," In this case the quasar is right here in the Rocky Mountain Conference.

Congratulations to our ministries in Utah for this selection and a big thank you to the UMCOR directors.

Skip Strickland
Director of Mission and Ministry
Rocky Mountain Conference
The United Methodist Church