Great Plains Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church for Monday, 16 June 2014 "SPECIAL DISASTER RECOVERY EDITION of GPconnect" Tornadoes hit Stanton County — Pilger, Neb., devastated

Great Plains Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church for Monday, 16 June 2014 "SPECIAL DISASTER RECOVERY EDITION of GPconnect" Tornadoes hit Stanton County — Pilger, Neb., devastated
Please keep the people of Stanton County and in particular the people of Pilger, Neb., in your prayers. One person lost their life due to Monday afternoon’s tornadoes.
Great Plains United Methodist Conference Disaster Response Coordinator Linda Stewart is traveling to Stanton County, Neb., to take  part in the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency’s (NEMA) area meeting of Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). Great Plains UM disaster response and United Methodist Committee on Relief are both VOAD organizations. VOAD works to bring all disaster response groups together to best meet the needs of affected areas. 
Monday’s mid-afternoon tornadoes swept through Stanton County hitting Pilger and surrounding areas with devastation. Six NEMA employees will be on location early Tuesday morning along with about 20 National Guardsmen according to KOLN TV, out of Lincoln, Neb., to begin to assess the damage. 
Governor Dave Heineman is also expected to survey the area around 10:30 a.m. 
Stewart invites early responders to be ready to go on a moments notice. She intends on providing an update as soon as the coordinated effort begins. 
Already anticipating the need to accommodate work teams, Stewart asks that volunteers and churches able to provide showers and other work-team support in near-by towns should contact disasterresponse@greatplainsumc.org or call 800-745-2350 and ask for TruDee Little. 
Great Plains UM Disaster Response Team Chairperson Steve Burnett is also en route to Pilger and Stanton County, in order to attend the VOAD meeting and to help organize the Great Plains United Methodist Response to the disaster. 
Help by giving
United Methodists wanting to help can do so through your local church offering plate to the conference disaster response fund, with the number 975 in the memo line, or donate online. Funds are used to help in times of disaster across the Great Plains Conference.
GPconnect will continue to offer updates and information on ways for United Methodists to engage in disaster response. Updates on areas in Nebraska hit by tornadoes on May 11 will be posted on our website. 
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Editorial Policy: The content, news, events and announcement information distributed in GPconnect is not sponsored or endorsed by the Great Plains Methodist Conference unless specifically stated.
Want to submit a letter to the editor? Email Kathryn Witte at kwitte@greatplainsumc.org
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