Former Students and Friends Invited to 140th UMCOR Sager Brown Anniversary Celebration
By Susan J. Meister
BALDWIN, LA—On Saturday, April 21, Sager Brown Home and Godman School alumni, UMCOR Sager Brown volunteers, and friends are invited to travel to Baldwin, La., for the local celebration of the 140th anniversary of the ministry that has taken place on the campus. UMCOR, or United Methodist Committee on Relief, is the international humanitarian aid arm of the United Methodist Church.
The open house, scheduled from 10 am to 2 pm, will begin with a short formal ceremony. Visitors will be invited to tour the buildings and Depot, and visit with UMCOR Sager Brown staff. Staff and children of the new Boys & Girls Club, Baldwin unit, will also be on hand.
Kathy Kraiza, recently appointed executive director, has a number of special activities planned. "We'll have music and food," she said, "and the museum and the gift shop will be open. But we really hope that most of the time will be spent in reunion and conversation."
The UMCOR Sager Brown Depot receives, verifies, packages, stores and ships relief supplies throughout the world. In 2006, nearly $8 million dollars worth of goods and materials were shipped with the help of 3,073 volunteers, the most ever to visit the site. Supplies include health kits, flood buckets, sewing kits, school bags, layette kits and more.
The receiving and shipping of relief supplies is the most recent use of the Sager Brown campus, which began in 1867 as an orphanage to serve African-American children orphaned by the Civil War. In the early 1900's, Dr. W.D. Godman formed a student choir, "The Jubilee Singers," who toured the northeastern US to raise money. Mrs. Addie Sager and Mrs. C.W. Brown, who learned about the financial need at a concert in the North Central New York Methodist Conference, purchased the school and gave it to the Women's Home Mission Society (the forerunner of the Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church). The Sager Brown Home and Godman School closed in 1978.
When Hurricane Andrew roared through Louisiana in 1992, UMCOR brought volunteers and supplies to the area, and staged their operations at Sager Brown. In 1994, construction began on the UMCOR Depot, which was opened in 1996.
Volunteers from throughout the world come to UMCOR Sager Brown to help with the processing of relief supplies. In addition, volunteers work on community housing projects in the Baldwin/St. Mary's Parish area. A senior food program is administered from the site, and the Boys & Girls Club, Baldwin Unit, opened in February 2007, the only after-school program in Baldwin.
More details about the local 140th celebration are at www.umcor.org. UMCOR Sager Brown is located at 101 Sager Brown Road, Baldwin, just off Main Street (State Route182). No pre-registration for the open house is required.
Susan Meister is Gulf Coast Communication Consultant for United Methodist Committee on Relief.
