This summer has seen a number of natural disasters that have affected millions of individuals and some of our congregations. We've seen catastrophic flooding in Tennessee, wildfires in California and Washington, and drought over much of the western part of the country. Two weeks ago Henri dumped record amounts of rainfall on New York City and New England, followed by Hurricane Ida which knocked out power and caused severe damage in Louisiana and Mississippi followed by even more recording breaking rain and flooding in New York and New Jersey and tornadoes in Maryland.

In the Central East Region, our congregations thus far have reported some basement and property flooding but no other damage. If your congregation has experienced damage, please reach out to your primary contact. Reports are slow coming in from congregations in the Southern Region as folks are not yet returning to New Orleans and Baton Rouge because of the continuing power outages. If your congregation that has been affected by the recent disasters and needs help, please submit an application.

This is when our congregations need to come together to support each other and our communities. Our UUA Disaster Relief Fund is how we do that. Disaster Relief Fund grants support Unitarian Universalists experiencing hardship, congregations damaged by disaster, and the broader communities with which our congregations are in relationship. The majority of Disaster Relief Funds are deployed in the larger community through grassroots organizing networks.

Rev. Lauren Smith stated in a recent email, "Your support makes it possible for people who may not be able to access FEMA, Red Cross, or other institutional resources to find help through their local UU congregation or partner.It's a special way that Unitarian Universalism can be bedrock in these times."

If your congregation can help support this fund either by taking a collection or letting your members know about this fund, you can help fulfill your covenant as a UU congregation to support one another in times of need. The video below can be used in services to introduce the fund.

Thank you for your help and support in this stressful times. We are Better Together.