# Disaster Response Staffing Update
In mid-October, Conference leadership announced a strategic shift in our disaster response efforts. As part of this transition, Scott Burdin is no longer serving as our Conference Disaster Response Coordinator. We are grateful for Scott’s 14 years of service and his commitment to disaster response across Missouri.
In reviewing the evolving needs of our disaster response ministries and the grant-funded [link removed] Congregations in Action program, Director of Connectional Ministries Kim Jenne and Associate Director of Mission, Service and Justice Ministries Lucas Endicott identified a need for a combined full-time administrative role. To address this, the mission program coordinator position was created and posted in October.
The application process closed Dec. 6 and yielded an impressive response from a pool of qualified and diverse candidates. A selection team of Conference staff and local church leaders is currently reviewing applications and conducting interviews. We anticipate filling the role by mid-January. Once the position is finalized, an announcement will be made and key stakeholders, including disaster response volunteers, will be notified. Thank you for your continued support and dedication to these vital ministries.
Until the position is filled and announced, please direct disaster response questions to Lucas Endicott, Associate Director of Mission, Service and Justice Ministries, at mailto:[email protected] [email protected].

Disaster Preparedness Month Update

We challenged you to build 500 cleaning buckets and 500 hygiene kits in September in recognition of disaster preparedness month. You and your local church responded in a big way! In total, 1,083 hygiene kits and 1,220 cleaning buckets were built in response to the challenge.

South Carolina Hurricane Response

Karen Yeomans of Manchester UMC in St. Louis led a team of 10 people from six churches to Greenwood, South Carolina. They served the week of Oct. 14 to help with early response after Hurricane Helene. Chris Patillo of First UMC in West Plains arrived early to help secure work. In total, they worked on six different properties, four of which had elderly owners.

2024 By-The-Numbers
This year your generosity in time and gifts resulted in:
7,503 kits (1,420 flood buckets, 1,083 hygiene kits, 5,000+ menstrual hygiene kits) assembled and distributed over the past 15 months.
Volunteers from the two churches, along with many community members, logged over 2,500 volunteer hours during a cleanup day as well as building food kits and handing them out during the spring/summer MARC events that were held in Sikeston and Dexter.
A team of eight ERT members representing seven different churches from Washington, Warrensburg, Sedalia, Macon, Huntsville, Chillicothe and Cape Girardeau worked to complete seven jobs, for a total of 126 volunteer hours, in the Carthage/Joplin area following the early summer tornadoes.
Six Early Response Team members were certified and five were recertified.
$82,794.03 in donations collected for UMCOR and another $49,738.79 collected for disaster relief in Missouri.
In 2024, Missouri received $255,000 in grants from UMCOR to support a total of $325,000 in UMCOR grants over the past 18 months to assist with longterm and emergency relief for storm damage in various parts of the state.
1,400+ flood buckets collected during National Disaster Response month in September.
Thanks for a great year! We'll see you in 2025.
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Missouri Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church
3601 Amron Court, Columbia, Missouri, 65202 | 573-441-1770


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