Adventist Community Services (ACS) has been asked by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to organize and manage four temporary warehouses in the greater New York area. ACS, a domestic partner of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), will use the warehouses to help manage donated goods overwhelming local agencies following the events of September 11.

An early response team is evaluating sites where donated goods can be sorted and distributed. Teams of four experienced disaster response workers will staff the warehouses. Every two weeks, they will be replaced with additional qualified workers.

Mobile units continue to supply food and water to the workers at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. With 26 years of service in the New York area, these mobile units have operated in the disaster zone since September 11. Team members also transported firefighters who couldn’t get back to their home stations because of destroyed equipment.

The concerted Adventist response to the terrorist tragedy continues on other fronts as well. Eighty pastors have received training in grief counseling in New York City. With the Manhattan Adventist Church on 11th Street as their base of operations near the scene of the tragedy, these counselors are being deployed to more than 15 locations, including hospitals. In Washington, D.C., more than 45 pastors are part of the grief counseling effort.

In recognition of those whose lives were destroyed or affected by the tragedy, ADRA International has established a “9-11 Fund.” The agency is bolstering its disaster preparedness and response capabilities in light of potential future threats.

Donations to ADRA’s “9-11 Fund” can be made in the United States by calling toll-free to 800-424-ADRA (2372). Outside of the United States, call +301-680-6350. Or donate by logging onto www.adra.org, or whitehouse.gov.