Religious Groups Rush Aid to Kurdish Refugees

The continuing plight of victims of the Persian Gulf War, particularly Kurds who have fled into neighboring Turkey and Iran, has provoked an outpouring of aid from U.S. religious organizations.

Assistance from religious groups comes as the United Nations and the United States--working with the British and French--worked to aid Kurds along the Iraqi border with Turkey.

Church World Service, the relief and development agency of the National Council of Churches, said it is planning to send 25,000 pounds of men’s heavy clothing and 27,000 pounds of women’s heavy clothing to the Kurds and other victims of the Gulf War. Value of the shipment was estimated at $75,810.

To date, Church World Service has sent 46,800 woolen blankets and 7,800 baby blankets, valued at $257,400, to camps in Turkey.

Church World Service is the agency through which many of the major mainline church bodies--such as the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Methodist Church--channel their relief efforts.

Catholic Relief Services announced that it would send 10,250 blankets, valued at $58,000, by today to the Kurds via the U.S. military. Another $200,000 has been set aside for additional emergency assistance for Kurdish refugees pending further evaluation of the situation.

World Relief, the relief arm of the National Assn. of Evangelicals, announced last week that it had released $25,000 to its team at the Turkey-Iraq border for purchase and distribution of supplies in the refugee camps. The organization said it planned to send additional teams and funds to the refugees later in April and in early May.

World Relief said its funds are being used primarily to purchase high-protein food, shelter, blankets, water and charcoal for cooking fuel.

Samaritan’s Purse, another evangelical relief agency, said it has sent five truckloads of aid, valued at $75,000, to the Kurds, including supplies such as blankets, tents, food and medicines.

Mazon, a Jewish hunger relief agency based in Los Angeles, announced that it will supply an emergency grant of $100,000 that could translate into as much as $1 million worth of relief materials, through special purchase arrangements by Operation U.S.A., which will receive the grant.

Mazon was asking 660 congregational partners to call on members for special gifts to support the relief effort. According to Mazon, the $100,000 grant is the largest the agency has ever allocated since its founding in 1986.

The Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board announced that it is sending $25,000 in relief funds to be used in meeting needs identified by a Southern Baptist survey team scheduled to visit the region.