IOCC Assists Colorado Flood Victims with Recovery Efforts

A husband and wife salvage a flood soaked trunk from their garage in Longmont, Colorado, as their children look on. In the aftermath of disastrous flooding that has left eight people dead and at least 1,500 homes destroyed, IOCC Frontliners are in Colorado to assist survivors with the distribution of emergency relief items and provide crisis counseling. photo: REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Baltimore, MD (September 19, 2013) — Colorado members of the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) Emergency Response Network, or Frontline, are providing relief to survivors in the areas hit hardest by extensive flooding over the past week. IOCC Frontliners are working with Ecumenical partners and local relief agencies at service centers in Ft. Collins and Greeley to begin distributing relief items such as clean-up buckets and blankets as well as providing crisis counseling for Coloradans still coming to terms with the loss of loved ones and family homes.

“Thousands of Colorado’s families have lost everything and are now faced with starting over,” says Dan Christopulos, IOCC’s US Country representative. “Along with our prayers, the most immediate need for these families trying to recover is to provide them with emergency items such as clean-up buckets, hygiene kits, and blankets.”

More than 200 people still remain unaccounted for after last week’s torrential rains immersed entire communities in northern Colorado. The disaster has claimed eight lives and displaced thousands of families who lost homes that were engulfed by flood waters.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can help the victims of disasters in the United States, like the Colorado floods, by making a financial gift to the United States Emergency Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief as well as long-term support through the provision of emergency aid, recovery assistance and other support to help those in need. To make a gift, please visit www.iocc.org, call toll-free at 1-877-803-IOCC (4622), or mail a check or money order payable to IOCC, P.O. Box 17398, Baltimore, Md. 21297-0429.

IOCC also anticipates the need for Emergency Clean-Up Buckets and hygiene kits. For easy to follow directions on how to assemble emergency kits, please visit www.iocc.org/kits

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IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. Since its inception in 1992, IOCC has delivered $438 million in relief and development programs to families and communities in more than 50 countries. IOCC is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy.