by Joan Osborn
- Hoosiers Helping out in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch (December 3, 1998)
- UPDATE December 14, 1998
- UPDATE about our involvement (December 16, 1998)
- First shipment of food leaves one week early (December 24, 1998)
- Hoosiers for Honduras Relief Effort Expands (February 16, 1999)
- Final Report (October 26, 1999)
December 3, 1998
In an effort to provide some relief for victims of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, members of the Terre Haute United Church of God and LifeNets added their efforts to those of a couple of Putnam Co. Indiana businessmen.
The church board which had unanimously voted on a donation had not yet decided what to do with the money. Jeff Osborn, who is a member of the Greater Terre Haute Church Federation, had approached that organization at their monthly board meeting. The association had not become involved in any relief efforts but suggested several possible options in the area.
United Terre Haute board members had considered several options during their own meeting. Those had included giving the money to either the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. Both of these organizations have relief efforts going in Central America. Some members had expressed concern that the $1000 might get tangled up in administrative costs.
Then on Friday, an article appeared in the Greencastle Banner Graphic that almost seemed an answer to prayer. Two local businessmen were planning to load a semi container in Putnam County with supplies. This struck a cord with the Terre Haute people since we are involved in similar efforts for both the Ukraine and Malawi undertaken by our pastor.
Darrell Toney one of the businessmen had spent time before hurricane Mitch in Honduras helping with a clean water and hydroelectric project there. Because of Toney’s previous experience there, this local effort was initiated. "People barely got by before this happened, " said Toney who had seen the poverty there first hand.
"The media’s got a short attention span, " said Art Evans, the other spearhead to this effort. "The news lasted about three days but it’s devastation the likes of which we’ve never seen."
Evans plans to have a semi ready to roll out of Putnam County by December 22. Plans are underway to send containers every 60 days for the next 6 to 12 months. Arrangements have been made with the Chiquita Banana Company to put the load on one of their barges leaving Gulfport, MI and docking in Honduras. From there, Chiquita officials have volunteered to backhaul items to inland missionaries free of charge to assure that the items get to the people in need and not into the wrong hands.
Among the items most needed are powdered milk, rice, beans, baking soda, powdered eggs, flour, baby food, cornmeal, bars of soap, blankets, sheets, antibiotics, antifungal medication, kaopectate, Pepto Bismol, water purification tablets, and bleach.
Terre Haute people are looking forward to their money helping fill the container. "We are wanting to meet Art Evans challenge," said Jeff Osborn elder in Terre Haute. "Art wanted to challenge some of the ‘do-gooders’ in our local area to do good. Their are still good people out there who are helping to make a difference and we feel privileged to be small part of this effort."
Terre Haute has offered to become a clearinghouse for funds raised locally for this effort. Anyone interested in contributing to the relief efforts in the Honduras can make a tax deductible contribution by marking "Honduras Fund" in the memo line of their check and sending it to:
United Church of God Honduras Fund
P.O. Box 476
Greencastle, Indiana 46135
Parts of this article are reprinted with permission from the BANNER GRAPHIC, Greencastle, IN.