"The residents of the Sacramento region who attend Bayside are just incredible," said Bayside Church senior Pastor Ray Johnston. "Our congregations wanted to do something tangible to help people half a world away who have lost loved ones, lost their possessions and are facing enormous challenges in the wake of the flooding."

The $86,000 in contributions raised by Bayside parishioners will be apportioned to the American Red Cross and Covenant World Relief.

"Christians are called upon to reach out to alleviate suffering and act as God's hands in the world," said Bayside outreach pastor Jim Holst. "The amount of this offering far exceeded our expectations and we hope will provide badly needed supplies for many people who are in such desperate need."

In another project, Bayside Church members (including its two church plants) helped raise more than $140,000 to buy 140,000 doses of vaccine to help prevent newborn infants in Africa from contracting the AIDS virus from their infected mothers. Bayside also provided the bulk of the funds needed to purchase 300 bicycles as Christmas gifts to needy Sacramento area children. In a related Christmas effort, some 2,000 gifts were collected as part of the Angel Tree project (sponsored by noted parachurch organization Samaritan's Purse) to distribute to the children of prison inmates.