You may be having a normal day, going into work, checking emails, and thinking about what you’ll have for dinner. For many others, though, this is not how their day is going at all. They may be dealing with some kind of natural disaster you can’t even imagine—wildfires, tornadoes, or hurricanes—just to name a few.
Or maybe you can imagine it. Maybe you’ve lived through a natural disaster yourself and are safely on the other side, not taking that normal day you’re having for granted.
Are you passionate about helping those in the midst of natural disaster? The WMU Foundation has a fund for that—the WMU HEART (Humanitarian Emergency Aid for Rebuilding Tomorrow) Fund.
Since the HEART Fund began in 2001 in response to the September 11 terror attacks, the WMU Foundation has granted more than $500,000 to help with disaster relief all over the world.
Joyce Peters, national WMU retiree, is a monthly donor to the WMU HEART Fund. “The HEART Fund has been of interest to me since its inception because my heart aches as I watch the news and hear about the disastrous effects of earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches, and tornadoes around the country and world,” she explained. “Contributing to this fund, knowing 100% of my donations will be used for humanitarian aid, allows me to reach out to those in need through trusted local contacts—most often SBC missionaries.”
Giving to the HEART Fund means that 100% of your gift will go toward disaster relief efforts, but the WMU Foundation cannot guarantee which disaster it will go toward. This allows us to be able to make grants quickly and immediately. We do not have to wait to collect funds and then distribute them. We have the support readily available when disasters occur, allowing those in need to go and be the hands and feet of Christ.
“It is a gratifying feeling knowing your entire donation goes to those in immediate need and to know WMU or a WMU partner has ‘boots on the ground’ to ensure those in need receive the funds and that the message of Christ is shared with recipients,” said Collins Compere, WMU Foundation board member. “This is why I am comfortable with, and our family enjoys, giving to the HEART Fund.”
In the past, grants have been given toward things like providing gift cards for distribution in communities where their homes were destroyed by wildfires or hurricane damage, rebuilding a church and replacing a pastor’s van after a flood, providing blankets and food to refugees during war crises, purchasing first aid kits for missionaries working with victims of an earthquake, and many other options.
Natural disasters occur all the time, and it’s easy to feel helpless when they do. A gift to the WMU HEART Fund can help those in need far more than you realize. Give a one-time or monthly gift* to the HEART Fund here and help those in the midst of a disaster get back to their own normal day.
Written by Maegan Dockery, marketing manager for the WMU Foundation.
*When you give a monthly gift of at least $25 to any WMU Foundation fund or endowment, you will receive a free Find Your Missions Passion mug.
