Share the Plate: March and April 2023
Share the Plate Recipient for March and April, 2023
Through the Share the Plate program UCN supports, with monthly donations from offerings, humanitarian and social justice programs in the greater Milwaukee community, other Wisconsin communities, nationally and internationally. Each month, fifty percent of the cash and fifty percent of checks written to UCN with the caption “Sharing the Plate” are donated to a non-profit program that is advocating for humanitarian and social justice issues. Candidates are nominated by a member or friend of the congregation, then approved by our Social Justice Committee.
In immediate response to the February 6 earthquake devastation in Syria and Turkey, the Social Justice Committee accepted a Share the Plate nomination to support the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which is working tirelessly to help the survivors.
Paraphrased from Al Jazeera:
On February 6, magnitude 7.8 and 7.6 earthquakes struck southeast Turkey and neighboring Syria. The earthquakes and aftershocks since then have killed more than 50,000 people and left over a million homeless. Aftershocks continue to hit the region, as expected, causing more and more structural damage, injuries and deaths. On February 20 several buildings collapsed in the city of Hatay, Syria, trapping people inside. Some were believed to have either returned to their homes to live or were trying to remove furniture from damaged homes. Across the entire region, many people have only escaped with blankets and are now living in their cars. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the construction of nearly 200,000 apartments in 11 earthquake-hit provinces would begin next month. The economic cost of the disaster is expected to run into tens of billions of dollars.
Tanya Evans, Syria Country Director for IRC says:
“This earthquake is yet another devastating blow to so many vulnerable populations already struggling after years of conflict. It is a crisis within multiple crises - temperatures are plummeting to below zero leaving thousands exposed. Women and children will find themselves particularly at risk of exploitation and abuse should they find themselves once again displaced. Many in northwest Syria have been displaced up to 20 times and with health facilities strained beyond capacity, even before this tragedy many did not have access to the health care they critically need. IRC teams are on the ground and working tirelessly to ensure the safety and well-being of our staff, local partners and those affected.”
The Syria Humanitarian Response Plan (2022-2023) is already severely underfunded with less than 50% of the required $4 billion funded. This earthquake will only increase the quantity and severity of needs on the ground. The IRC is calling on the international community to urgently increase critical funding to ensure that those affected by this emergency, within an emergency, get the support they need.
