Our Hands-On Mission Opportunity for the 2012 Spiritual Growth Retreat will be:

UMCOR Birthing Kits

Click here to download a flyer with complete information about our hands-on mission project

Because of the continuing humanitarian needs around the world, our conference is collecting Birthing Kits as our Hands-On Mission Opportunity at the Spiritual Growth Retreat. Birthing kits provide the essential items to promote a safe, clean delivery of a child, and to encourage good care afterwards. 

Encourage others in your local unit and congregation to participate...even if they cannot attend the Spiritual Growth Retreat.  We will deliver the birthing kits to our conference Mission Response Center for shipment to the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot. Participating in this Hands-On Mission Opportunity will help your local unit to meet Mission Today criteria #22.

UMCOR Birthing Kit Contents: 

Place the following NEW items inside a sealed one-gallon plastic bag.

• 1 hotel-size bar of soap (1 oz. to 2oz.)

• 1 pair of clean latex gloves

• 1 square yard of clear 4 mil plastic sheeting

• 3 pieces of clean string each 12” long

• 1 clean single use razor blade (carefully wrap the blade in paper or plastic to protect it and keep it from causing injury)

• 2 flannelette receiving blankets, 30"x30" or 32"x32"

In a separate envelope, please include a check payable to UMCOR Sager Brown for at least $1.00 per kit to help with the costs of the costs of processing and shipping the kits around the world. Please do not put the money envelope in your UMCOR Birthing Kit bag.

If you are bringing multiple kits, it is fine to just write one check in an amount sufficient to cover all of your kits. If your whole unit is collecting the kits, it will be okay to collect the money and put it all in one envelope to be turned in when you drop off your kits at the Spiritual Growth Retreat.

Please pack your kits in a box that can be handled easily by our women and write the total number of kits on the side of the box. (Paper case boxes are a nice size.) We want to make it as easy as possible to collect, count and transport our Health Kits.

Important Kit Assembly Information:

• All items included in kits must be NEW items. 

• All emergency kits are carefully planned to make them usable in the greatest number of situations. Since strict rules often govern product entry into international countries, it is important that kits contain only the requested items - nothing more.

• Do NOT include any personal notes, money or additional materials in the kits. These things must be painstakingly removed and will delay the shipment.

• Please do not include any religious, political or patriotic notes or emblems in any kit.

Frequently Asked Questions About Birthing Kits:

We have received a number of questions about making birthing kits. So...we contacted UMCOR, and here are some answers that we hope will be helpful for everyone:

• It is fine to get 30x30 receiving blankets...UMCOR knew that the 36x36 size are either no longer available or very difficult to find.

• These receiving blankets should be the little thin flannelette/cotton ones that roll or fold up to almost nothing...not thick blankets. If the correct type is purchased, all items will fit in the 1 gallon bag.

• The razor is a single EDGE razor. The UMCOR website and our flyer says single USE. There actually is such a thing for medical and other purposes, but the single EDGE is what is needed for the kits.

• DO NOT use dental floss as a substitute for the string. Use regular string...like cotton string you buy on a roll.

• Here are some further suggestions from a group that made a bunch of kits:

  • Purchased the single EDGE razor blades at a hardware store...10 in a plastic box for $1.59. Bubble wrap works best to cover them for safety.

  • Wal-Mart has the 30x30 receiving blankets.

  • Wal-Mart also has the soap...hotel soap is only ¾ oz. Travel size is 2.6 oz. and can be bought for 97¢ a bar.

  • Lowe's Home Improvement lumber department has 3x50 ft. 4 mil plastic sheeting. The paint department has 1 & 3 mil. Fifty feet makes 17 kits. Lowe's also had 3x100 feet.

• Remember to put all six items (soap, plastic sheeting, latex gloves, string, razor blades, and blankets) in the gallon size plastic bag.

• We also learned that generally the items in a birthing kit are all used only once for a single birth, and the everything is rolled up & put back in the plastic bag for disposal.

Thank you for your support of the retreat hands-on project! Your gifts will make a difference for a mother and her child as he/she is born.

Thank you for your generous support of our hands-on mission opportunity!

UMCOR Health Kits

Coming Soon!  Click here to download a flyer with complete information about our hands-on mission project

Because of continuing need around the world, UMCOR has an ongoing need for Health Kits. Western North Carolina Conference United Methodist Women want to help with that effort for our hands-on mission opportunity for the 2012 School of Christian Mission.

Encourage others in your local unit and congregation to participate...even if they cannot attend the School of Christian Mission.  We will deliver the health kits to our conference Mission Response Center for shipment to the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot. Participating in this Hands-On Mission Opportunity will help your local unit to meet Mission Today criteria #22.

Health kits provide basic necessities to people who have been forced to leave their homes because of human conflict or natural disaster. Health kits are also used as learning tools in personal hygiene, literacy, nutrition and cooking classes. When people gain the knowledge and materials to maintain personal hygiene, their overall health improves.

UMCOR Health Kit Contents: 

Place the following NEW items inside a sealed one-gallon plastic bag.

• 1 hand towel (15" x 25" up to 17" x 27", no kitchen towels)

• 1 washcloth

• 1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)

• 1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)

• 1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)

• 1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, no child-size brushes)

• 6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages

In a separate envelope, please include a check payable to UMCOR Sager Brown for at least $2.00 per kit to help with the costs of buying one tube of toothpaste, and the costs of processing and shipping the kits around the world. Please do not put the money envelope in your UMCOR Health Kit bag.

If you are bringing multiple kits, it is fine to just write one check in an amount sufficient to cover all of your kits. If your whole unit is collecting the kits, it will be okay to collect the money and put it all in one envelope to be turned in when you drop off your kits at the School of Christian Mission. (NOTE: UMCOR is now purchasing toothpaste in bulk to be added to health kits before shipping to ensure that the product does not expire before it is sent.)

If at all possible, please pack your kits in a box that can be handled easily by our women and write the total number of kits on the side of the box. (Paper case boxes are a nice size.) We are trying to make it as easy as possible to collect, count and transport our Health Kits.

Important Kit Assembly Information:

• All items included in kits must be NEW items. 

• All emergency kits are carefully planned to make them usable in the greatest number of situations. Since strict rules often govern product entry into international countries, It is important that kits contain only the requested items - nothing more.

• Do NOT include any personal notes, money or additional materials in the kits. These things must be painstakingly removed and will delay the shipment.

• Please do not include any religious, political or patriotic notes or emblems in any kit.

Thank you for your generous support of our hands-on mission opportunity!