Description
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to alleviating human suffering around the globe. UMCOR’s work includes programs and projects in disaster response, health, sustainable agriculture, food security, relief supplies, and more.
UMCOR is a ministry of The United Methodist Church through the General Board of Global Ministries, and our goal is to assist the most vulnerable persons affected by crisis or chronic need without regard to their race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. We believe all people have God-given worth and dignity.
UMCOR’s work reaches people in more than 80 countries, including the United States. We provide humanitarian relief when war, conflict, or natural disaster disrupt life to such an extent that communities are unable to recover on their own.
While UMCOR cooperates with other aid organizations to extend our reach, our most important partners are the people we serve. We are confident that successful solutions to emergency or chronic conditions begin with the affected population. UMCOR provides these survivors not only temporary relief but long-term education, training, and support.
UMCOR spends 100 percent of designated donations on the projects our donors specify. When UMCOR donors give their time, money, and supplies, they join UMCOR as the hands and feet of Christ.
History
UMCOR serves as a “voice of conscience among Methodists to act in the relief of human suffering without distinction of race, color, or creed.” So said Bishop Herbert Welch at General Conference in 1940 when UMCOR’s forerunner, the Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief (MCOR), was started. The goal then was to respond to suffering among peoples overseas after the onset of World War II.
Although the committee was supposed to be temporary, General Conference, the church’s legislative body, re-approved its work every four years. In 1972, the committee was made a permanent part of the General Board of Global Ministries and renamed the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). A structure was formalized and the committee’s scope expanded to include disaster relief in the United States.
Since then, UMCOR has helped survivors of earthquakes in Nicaragua, famine in Africa, and tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes in the United States. As countries such as Liberia, Rwanda, and Bosnia experienced civil strife, UMCOR was there to help affected communities rebuild homes and lives. We provided communities with training and education to help them confront hunger and poverty.
UMCOR has provided relief to survivors of earthquakes in Haiti and Chile; floods in Pakistan; and the 2011 tsunami, earthquake, and nuclear threat in Japan; our field office in Afghanistan has helped rebuild communities torn apart by decades of war, and we provided long-term recovery aid to communities in the US South devastated by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike.
Financial Status
Tax ID
13-55622792013 Revenue
$79,141,311.00
2013 Net Assets
$131,594,602.00