Great Plains Disaster Response

04/14/2026

Please join us in prayer for people in and around Ottawa, KS, as well as other communities such as Hillsdale and Pleasanton who endured tornadoes throughout the evening. There are reports of a few injuries (we don't know status or how many yet) as well as damage to businesses and at least one church (not a UMC) due to lost roofs.
Our Great Plains Disaster Response coordinator, Rev. Hollie Tapley, will be in touch if and when we are deploying to assist. So watch for updates as the need comes into better focus.

06/08/2025

If you are 18 years and older and would like to volunteer with our ERTS in El Dorado, KS, please private message me.

05/07/2025

Local Churches - you can make a difference before disasters happen. Join the 12x12 Club! Register your church at [email protected]. Simply make 12 of each UMCOR Relief Kit (https://umcmission.org/relief-supplies/ Store them at your local church. If the conference has not needed them in 6 months, give them to a local organization, family, school, or business in your community. Repeat the process!!!

Send a message to learn more

02/28/2025

With the arrival of March means the beginning of storm season across the Great Plains Conference. It is the objective of your Disaster Response Ministry to serve all people who have been impacted by a disaster. It takes volunteers to be the church to those impacted by storms, yet it also takes financial donations.
Your donations help to supply needed equipment for our volunteers to use while tarping roofs, windows, and doors. They provide equipment for mucking (gutting out) out a home following a flood. The most important use of your financial donations is the ability for us to provide disaster response grants to homeowners who have been devastated by a disaster in their community. Grants are awarded based on the number of applicants and the amount of funding available. Currently our disaster response balance is right at $50,000. As we approach storm season, that is a very low amount to begin what is predicted to be a severe season.
It is very easy to make a donation to our disaster response fund! You can make an on-line donation by clicking on this link: https://www.greatplainsumc.org/page/donate/great-plains-disaster-fund Be sure to note that it is for the Disaster Fund. If you prefer to write a check, make it payable to the Great Plains Conference, note on the memo line “975 Disaster Response” and mail to the conference at PO Box 4187, Topeka, KS 66604. Thank you for helping your disaster response volunteers be the church and make a difference in our communities.

Contribute to the ministry of mercy as we assist people after a disaster.

02/28/2025

Want to?
• Bring Hope to someone?
• Be a smiling face?
• Make a lasting difference?
Our Disaster Response Ministry is the place for you! Come be a person of hope and make a difference in the life of a survivor following a disaster. Any youth in grades 9th and above and individuals 18 years old and above are needed in our ministry. To become a credentialed Early Response Team individual, you must go through a UMCOR training. Dates for upcoming training events are: April 5, Trinity UMC, Grand Island, NE; April 26, FUMC Omaha, NE; April 26, Trinity UMC, Salina, KS; and June 21, FUMC Norfolk, NE. To register: www.greatplainsumc.org/register. For more information, contact Rev. Hollie Tapley, Conference Disaster Response Coordinator, [email protected]

Send a message to learn more

01/08/2025

Our Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) zoom with Kansas Division of Emergency Management is postponed tomorrow, January 9th. Watch for an email with the new date!

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

08/26/2024

The Great Plains Conference Disaster Response/Assistance Fund could use a boost. To explain how the fund helps individuals, Rev. Hollie Tapley, the conference's Disaster Response coordinator, shares some details about the fund, information about Disaster Response in general, and how you can participate with your financial assistance and time as a volunteer.
Download the episode: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-bwbve-16b2d29

Learn more at https://www.greatplainsumc.org/disasterresponse.

Donate to the fund: https://gp-reg.brtapp.com/GPDisasterFund.

05/25/2024

Strong to severe thunderstorms will move from west to east into the area after midnight tonight. Severe wind gusts, large hail, brief tornadoes, and localized flooding are all possible with the strongest storms.

05/25/2024

A storm system will bring yet another round of rain and thunderstorms across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa tonight into the early morning hours on Sunday.