As Hurricane Dorian bears down on the North Carolina coast, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) stands ready to respond and already is responding to the devastation the storm left behind in the Bahamas.
The hurricane, which has been lurking in the Atlantic Ocean for nearly two weeks, has put both PDA’s national and international response teams to work. The Rev. Jim Kirk, Associate for National Disaster Response, says that is not unusual for Atlantic hurricanes, which can often hit countries such as Mexico, Cuba and Caribbean islands as well as the U.S. Mainland and Puerto Rico.
The Rev. Edwin González-Castillo, Associate for Disaster Response and Refugee Ministry–Latin America and the Caribbean, says PDA is working with the Rev. Stephanie Gottschalk, executive director of Bahamas Methodist Habitat, as well as ACT Alliance and Church World Service to respond to Dorian, which left parts of the country with devastation that reminded Kirk of tornado damage.
The No. 1 way anyone who wants to can help, he says, is financial donations.
You can send your special offerings and gifts through the Shenango Presbytery office (4197 New Castle Road, Pulaski, PA 16143). Please designate gifts to Hurricane Relief. We will forward all gifts on to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.