Monthly Mission Focus – UMCOR WASH Program

“The worldwide water crisis consistently ranks as the greatest threat to mankind.”

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene are essential for good health and well-being. Water is used not only for drinking, but also for bathing, cooking, cleaning, waste disposal, and agriculture. Yet, 668 million people around the world do not have reliable access to clean drinking water and even more people lack access to water for agriculture and other household tasks to meet their everyday needs. What’s more, 1.8 billion lack adequate toilets. The lack of access to these basic services and the education regarding healthy behaviors results in more than 1,000 children a day dying from diseases, many of which are entirely preventable!

During August, St. Mark’s is raising funds for the United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR) Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program that implements projects through a network of partners in countries that have the highest levels of childhood diseases and death, and least access to basic WASH services. UMCOR and its partners are working on long-term solutions that start with communities’ priorities and agendas and support the change that they want to make in their lives. They help communities take ownership of their water and sanitation systems and build lasting strategies and solutions to ensure they will benefit in the future. UMCOR partners are either national non-governmental organizations or local community based organizations. Through this network, partners must present project proposals on a yearly cycle to support the communities’ goals in WASH and present an overview of their capacities to carry out their plans.

You can support the work of UMCOR-WASH by making a financial donation using the mission offering envelope on Sunday mornings throughout August or using the “Give” button below. Your support for UMCOR-WASH supports their partners’ critical work!

Please contact Stephanie Cohen if you would like to know more.