IOCC “frontline volunteers” to coordinate relief in storm-ravaged areas of Alabama
International Orthodox Christian Charities [IOCC] is sending members of “Frontline,” a volunteer network of highly trained, credentialed and experienced emergency response personnel, to respond to the relief and recovery efforts in northern Alabama following severe storms, tornadoes and flooding that devastated the area on April 27, 2011.
Deacon Dan Gray of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America—a US Navy retiree who responded to the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina and has worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency—began working in northern Alabama on May 5 to conduct a needs assessment, meet with local Orthodox parishes and partners, and coordinate relief efforts for IOCC.
A second member of IOCC’s Frontline is also expected to join the relief effort in the coming days.
IOCC is also making emergency relief supplies available, including health kits, to affected areas near Tuscaloosa, where thousands have been left homeless as a result of tornadoes. In addition to the health kits, IOCC anticipates the need for emergency clean-up buckets in Alabama and flood-affected areas along the Mississippi River. The emergency clean-up buckets contain basic household cleaning supplies to help people begin the overwhelming job of cleaning up after a flood, hurricane, tornadoes, or other disasters. For information on how to assemble the emergency clean-up buckets, please visit www.iocc.org/kits.
IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas and a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy. For information on assisting IOCC in its efforts, visit www.iocc.org.