Donation and Service Relays to Combat COVID-19

As the coronavirus situation prolonged, the Church of God members around the world carried out donation and service relays, hoping that everyone would ride out this global crisis.

On July 8, members in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, donated 5,000 disposable masks and 5,000 handmade fabric masks to the Mongolian Ministry of Health. The members, who often make their own clothes, skillfully made the masks. Earlier on June 30, members from Los Angeles, CA, and Honolulu, HI, U.S., delivered 300 handmade masks to the officials of Guided Missile Destroyers of U.S. Navy. Members working for the United Nations Headquarters in New York, U.S., (as the members of the New Windsor Church) also held an online seminar on making masks through videoconferencing. Not only UN employees but also local business employees attended the seminar, and our Church members shared with them how to make masks with clothes that are not worn often, encouraging them to overcome the COVID-19 together.

We also made active efforts to provide help for each region. With one accord, members delivered food and daily necessities such as rice, cooking oil, instant noodles, eggs, milk, soaps, toothpaste, detergent, and paper to neighbors who were suffering from financial difficulties due to COVID-19 in the Philippines, Indonesia, Chile, Argentina, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, and Rep. of South Africa. In Cambodia, Nepal, and New Zealand, members wholeheartedly made more than 1,000 heartfelt lunch boxes and delivered them to the neighbors who were skipping meals in difficult situations. Caracas in Venezuela had no running water for about two months. So members in Caracas, Venezuela, fetched water from a distance of 5 km [3.1 miles] to provide the residents with water they need for living. In Siem Reap, Cambodia, members contacted government agencies and donated food products. In Cape Town, Rep. of South Africa, Sister Precious Malete delivered food products to neighbors and said, “I am so happy and thankful that I can deliver food products to my neighbors in a difficult situation. I want them to know that we are all one family and that they are never alone.”

The Cheer Up Campaign, which was launched by ASEZ Church of God University Student Volunteer Group in last April, has been constantly carried out. ASEZ members in Denver, CO, U.S., made 1,000 masks for citizens, the medical staff, and quarantine officials, and delivered them to the city hall of Denver. ASEZ members in Cusco, Peru, also made gift kits and wrote letters for officials of local governments, police stations, and hospitals. In Manaus, Brazil, members delivered handwritten letters and handmade masks to nursing homes. Brother Kris Keach from Marymount California University, U.S., participated in making masks and said, “I hope we can continue to be of service during this coronavirus pandemic. We will ponder over what we can do, and willingly help the front line.”

Members are planning to help alleviate the blood supply shortage that has become serious since the COVID-19 outbreak, by donating blood and blood donor cards.

The Church of God Honored with the U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award (Gold)

In July, the Church of God’s devotional volunteer services for neighbors and communities were recognized with the U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award (Gold). The U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award (Gold; Group Award) is given to the groups that contribute more than 1,000 hours of service.

The Church of God has been awarded with the Gold Award 25 times, and in 2011, received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor for groups and individuals who contribute more than 4,000 hours of service. In May, the Church of God also received a certificate of appreciation from the American Red Cross for its contribution to saving many lives through blood donation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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