Over and over again, it is powerful when people say, “We are so grateful that Week of Compassion is here for the long haul.” As storms come, disasters occur, and global concerns persist, Week of Compassion engages with ecumenical partners closest to the crisis, providing collaboration and support for as long as it is needed. That long-term emphasis is where Disciples invest time, talent, and resources to transform communities.
Week of Compassion offers resources and training opportunities to help congregations prepare for and respond to disasters. Immediately following disasters in the United States and Canada, Week of Compassion works through local congregations and regions to provide guidance, connections, and resources for navigating disaster response.
They invest the majority of Disciples disaster response resources in long-term recovery, primarily for the purpose of repairing and rebuilding homes.
In coordination with Disciples and ecumenical partners, Week of Compassion also supports opportunities for Disciples to offer hands-on assistance. You can find all the details on Week of Compassion’s Volunteer page or by contacting Raiza Spratt, Disaster Response Organizer.
Long-term volunteers (LTVs) are a crucial part of disaster-recovery volunteer opportunities, trained to be the leaders on mission sites coordinated by Week of Compassion, usually for a month or more at a time. They are the liaisons between the week-to-week volunteers and our local rebuild partners.
Retiree Floyd Pearson, Hutchinson Park Place Christian Church, is what you would call a DOER – always has multiple irons in the fire, and willing to go most anywhere, so long as he will be put to good use.
Floyd’s strong sense of responsibility to care for our neighbors, and his particular attention to those who are getting left behind, have made him a real gift to Week of Compassion.
He has spent time connecting with Kansas and Reno County Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) to coordinate fire clean-up and recovery. Floyd says, “It’s hard to learn that you can’t fix everything for everyone. I have been blessed by the people I have met.”
Steve Huston is one of our longest serving LTVs, and seems to know Disciples from everywhere! As a former educator, he has a passion for teaching new skills to volunteers. On his last deployment to Dayton, Steve shared photos of the work done by a very small crew of local individuals. He captioned the pictures simply: “God always sends what I need.”
There is no time like the present. Train and serve as a long-term volunteer by emailing [email protected].
Week of Compassion is grateful to serve alongside and on behalf of the Disciples church, knowing that truly and always, God will send what we need.
This is a reprint of an article published in June 2022 by Week of Compassion. To read the origional article and more, go to https://www.weekofcompassion.org/stories/long-term-volunteering-sending-what-we-need.