ABHMS To Aid Tornado-Ravaged Shaw University

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ABHMS To Aid Tornado-Ravaged Shaw University

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 4/21/11)—American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) will present a $10,000 One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) domestic disaster grant to aid in clean-up and rebuilding efforts at Shaw University, which suffered tornado damage on April 16. The Raleigh, N.C., school will be closed for the remainder of the semester.

The student union building and dormitories suffered tremendous structural damage and trees were uprooted, but no injuries have been reported, according to a press release issued by university president Irma McClaurin, Ph.D.

“Dr. Irma McClaurin, the faculty, staff and students of Shaw University and Divinity School are in our prayers. The first historically black university of the South, Shaw has handled every man-made political, economic and social assault on its mission to educate and improve the lives of African-American youth,” says ABHMS Executive Director Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III. “The recent tornadic activity that damaged property is but a gentle wind compared to the constructive power of the life-transforming Spirit that has consistently blown through Shaw’s history since 1865. The Easter promise is Shaw’s as well. Because Christ lives, they will face tomorrow.”

A member of the American Baptist Association of Colleges and Universities, the private, co-educational liberal arts school awards undergraduate and graduate degrees.

“My heart sank when I first heard via the news that Shaw had been so severely damaged that the school had to close for the term,” says Dr. A. Roy Medley, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA. “I know the generous hearts of our American Baptists, and I am confident that they will respond to the challenge Shaw faces in restoring its campus.”

To donate to the Shaw University-designated OGHS offering, contact Victoria Goff, ABHMS national coordinator of Volunteer Ministries, at 800-ABC-3USA, x2449, or vgoff@abhms.org.

ABHMS—the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA—ministers as the caring heart and serving hands of Jesus Christ across the United States and Puerto Rico through a multitude of initiatives that focus on discipleship, community and justice.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.

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