(OSV News) ─ As Hurricane Milton takes aim at Florida just days after Hurricane Helene, Catholic Charities USA has launched a dedicated disaster relief donation campaign.
CCUSA -- the official domestic relief agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and a member of Caritas Internationalis, the church's global network of humanitarian outreaches -- announced the fund Oct. 9, as the Category 4 Milton churned across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour. Milton has fluctuated in intensity and was rated a Category 5 twice, but it dipped to Category 4 midday Oct. 9.
Donations to the CCUSA relief fund can be made on the agency's website at ccusa.online/milton; by texting MILTON to 20406; or by mailing checks to CCUSA at 2050 Ballenger Ave, Suite 400, Alexandria, Virginia, 22314. Information about additional ways to give can be obtained by contacting CCUSA at (800) 919-9338 or [email protected].
Milton is expected to make landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast sometime during the evening of Oct. 9, according to the National Hurricane Center. With anticipated storm surges of 15 feet, the storm could inflict record-breaking levels of destruction, especially as the region struggles to recover from Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 227 across six states in September.
President Joe Biden -- who approved requests for federal emergency declarations from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Marcellus W. Osceola Jr., chair of the Seminole Tribe of Florida -- canceled his upcoming trips to Germany and Angola due to the expected impact of the hurricane. Following a briefing, Biden said Milton "is looking like the storm of the century," urging residents to evacuate as "literally a matter of life and death."
In its Oct. 9 announcement, CCUSA said that "one hundred percent of all funds raised will be allocated to local Catholic Charities agencies, which will provide critical relief -- including shelter, food and other humanitarian aid -- to displaced and suffering members of their communities."
"Our brothers and sisters urgently need our prayers and our support as Hurricane Milton brings life-threatening conditions to Florida communities, some of which are still reeling from Hurricane Helene," CCUSA president and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson said.
So far, CCUSA has distributed more than $1.9 million to Catholic Charities agencies in states affected by Hurricane Helene, and the agency said it "will stand by these communities through the long-term recovery.
The agency said it responds to more than 60 disasters every year, ranging from hurricanes and tornadoes to fires and floods.
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Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @GinaJesseReina
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