How does ELCA Disaster Response work and why give through the church?

How does it work?
Lutheran Disaster Response is a collaborative and donor-driven ministry of the ELCA, through ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, and The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. It works effectively and efficiently because of its extensive network of trusted partners, including government agencies and Lutheran Social Ministry Organizations. When designating a specific disaster, one hundred percent is used for immediate relief and long-term recovery following that disaster. Giving to ELCA Domestic Disaster Response without designation allows for the flexibility to meet the greatest needs, support disaster-preparedness efforts, and respond swiftly to the next disaster.

Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) responds to disasters in five major ways:

1. Hardship Grants - meeting the financial needs of individuals not met by federal agencies, insurance, and other organizations. These grants are given to the people most in need.
2. Spiritual and emotional care - for victims of disasters, and for care-givers. Includes counseling, prayer, respite, and other care.
3. Focus on children - through Camp Noah Day Camps. Information about this program is available online at http://www.elca.org/disaster/resources/05-08-10-noah.asp .
4. Relief/Feeding Programs - supplementing federal agencies and the Red Cross. 
5. Volunteer coordination for rebuilding

All this for the long-term, often years after a disaster.

Why give through the church?
Although ELCA Domestic Disaster Response/Lutheran Disaster Response works closely with other domestic disaster agencies like the Red Cross, there are three good reasons to give to DDR:

• 100 percent of gifts will go to disaster relief.
• The ELCA has a reputation for being on site, helping in disaster recovery, long after other groups have left. For example, nearly four years after 9/11 we are still working in New York City.

Why give to ELCA Disaster Response and not to another fine charity like the Red Cross or the Salvation Army? The Rev. Joel Brandt, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Livonia, Michigan, says:

"I usually respond like this: 'I'm a member of the ELCA. I give my blood to the Red Cross. But I give my money to the church, for two reasons:

1. I know it will be used not just wisely, but faithfully. That is, I know that undergirding those who collect and spend it are not just the humanitarian hopes and efforts of good people, but the mission of Jesus Christ. My gifts are a part of the church's witness to the love of God in Christ Jesus.
2. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way etc., can and do raise lots of money from the public at large. But the church can only really expect to raise funds from its own members. If we as members of the ELCA won't give to our own church, who will?'"