Area United Methodist churches teaming up for flood relief

The United Methodist Committee on Relief knows a few things about assisting those ravaged by floodwaters.

The group still is sending a regular stream of volunteers to assist with Hurricane Katrina relief.

Now committee members in northern Illinois will put those lessons to work a bit closer to home as United Methodist churches throughout Chicago and the suburbs target areas flooded at and near Quincy and Peoria as well as Iowa and Missouri.

The Rev. Paul Meyers is the coordinator for the efforts in northern Illinois. He is also the pastor at Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Elgin.

This weekend he'll oversee an effort to collect "flood buckets" and medical kits to send to flood areas. Later, when the waters begin to recede, he'll oversee efforts to send teams of volunteers to targeted areas to help with the actual cleanup process.

Anyone interested in assisting can find more information at one of the collection sites or guidance at any area United Methodist Church, Meyers said.

The process began with raising $6,000 to match a warehouse of cleaning supplies that is already set to go to flood areas. Now the church members are trying to pull together 50 donated flood buckets this weekend at each of the collection sites.

In addition to Meyers' church, the other collection sites are: Community United Methodist Church in Naperville; First United Methodist Church in Glen Ellyn; Berry Memorial United Methodist Church in Chicago; and three other churches in Hazel Crest, Rockford and Oregon.

The churches will continue collecting flood buckets and medical kits even beyond this weekend for people who wish to make donations. The list of ingredients each kit requires is available by searching the term "flood bucket" on Google.

Meyers said the idea of sending the buckets, complete with a note that reads "God loves you," is born from a sense of needing to help.

"There's something called secondary victimization," Meyers said. "So when Katrina happened, you probably said the same thing that I did -- 'I want to do something.' That's the symptom. You're not a primary victim, but you feel sympathy and want to do something to help. Well, this is something that we can do to help."

Good Samaritan Church in Addison is not an official collection site, but has enlisted its members to create flood buckets with the help of a discount at Len's Ace Hardware in Addison. The store has employees who know all the ingredients of the buckets and will sell them at a 20 percent discount.

The Rev. Brian Smith is the pastor of the church and said he hopes to fill an entire truck with flood buckets.

"One of the sources of pride from United Methodists is showing our faith in practical ways," Smith said. "My church is a small church, but even the little Davids can help tackle the big Goliaths."