Source: Salvation Army, National Headquarters
Xenophon Strategies
Media
Relations Bob Brady
(703) 400-3247 (202) 680-4951
mediarelations@usn.
Blake Rhodes
(415)
531-9586
brhodes@xenophonstrategies.
Local Contact: Salvation Army, Milwaukee County
Faithe Colas, Community Relations Director
Faithe_colas@usc.
The Salvation Army USA National Fact
Sheet – Hurricane Sandy 10-29-12
For the
latest updates on The Salvation Army’s response to this disaster, please
visit www.SalvationArmyUSA.org, Blog.SalvationArmyUSA.org, Twitter and Facebook.
Updates
The Salvation Army has already begun feeding operations at shelters along the
East Coast in advance of Hurricane Sandy; Emergency personnel and equipment are
on standby for a potentially major response in the coming days.
· The Salvation Army has
commenced feeding operations in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, North
Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and elsewhere as Hurricane Sandy is scheduled to
make landfall later today.
· Salvation Army assets are
on standby from the Carolinas to Maine, ready to deploy as needed and requested
by Emergency Management personnel.
· The Salvation Army
maintains a fleet of disaster vehicles and supply warehousesacross the United
States to enable speedy mobilization.
· There are more than 300
emergency response vehicles in the eastern and southern United States alone and
nearly 600 units nationwide.
· These units are able to
serve thousands of meals and drinks per day when operating at full capacity.
· In addition to food,
hydration, and emotional and spiritual care, The Salvation Army is also
prepared to provide:
o Clean-up
kits containing brooms, mops, buckets and cleaning supplies
o Hygiene kits
o Shower units
o First-aid supplies
o Communications support
Specific Salvation Army mobilization activities to date
include:
· In
New Jersey, The Salvation Army is serving meals, snacks and drinks at 11
shelters in five counties. A full fleet of emergency response vehicles is ready
to deploy if needed. This includes 10 fully-stocked mobile feeding units
(canteens), two service vehicles, and one mobile command unit. A canteen is
embedded with Task Force 1, the State's official search and rescue team, at
Lakehurst Naval Base and may travel with them as they are deployed throughout
the state.
· In New York,
The Salvation Army is coordinating with the local American Red Cross to provide
volunteer support for shelters throughout Suffolk County. Eight canteens are
equipped and ready to be deployed from the northern and western parts of the
state.
· In Philadelphia,
PA, The Salvation Army is working closely with the Philadelphia Office of
Emergency Management to ready three shelters within the city to help ensure
those impacted by Hurricane Sandy will have access to essential services and
safety.
· In North
Carolina, Salvation Army volunteers worked for 34 hoursfeeding residents at a
shelter in Morehead City. The Salvation Army in New Bern also served evacuees
at a local shelter. Eight volunteers and two officers prepared 120 meals.
· In Virginia, The Salvation
Army in Hampton Roads has been providing shelter since Saturday evening. A
shelter in downtown Norfolk has served 350 meals and distributed 70 hygiene
kits so far.
· In
Maryland, The Salvation Army of Salisbury served lunch to more than 200 persons
at a shelter on Sunday. The Army is also in assisting with sheltering and
feeding activities in Annapolis and other parts of the state.
· The Salvation Army
encourages all residents of areas in the storm’s path to stay informed of
and heed all warnings and evacuation orders. Disaster response professionals
recommend having a three-to-five day supply of food and water for each member
of your family as well as flashlights, medication and battery powered
radios.
Monetary donations are the most critical need as
supplies and personnel are mobilized.
· Donors are encouraged to
give online at www.SalvationArmyUSA.org or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY
(1-800-725-2769).
· You
can also text the word “STORM” to 80888 to make a $10 donation
through your mobile phone; to confirm your gift, respond with the word
“Yes.”*
·
Those interested in volunteering should register at
www.disaster.salvationarmyusa.org. Please note that disaster service training
is a prerequisite for volunteering in a disaster zone and not all registered
volunteers will be called on to serve.
· At this point, in-kind
donations, such as used clothing and used furniture, are not being accepted for
hurricane relief. However, these items are vital to supporting the day-to-day
work of your local Salvation Army. Please consider giving these items to your
local Salvation Army Family Store or dial 1-800-SA-TRUCK (1-800-728-7825).
Your donations make a real difference.
· A $10 donation feeds a
disaster survivor for one day.
· A $30 donation provides
one food box, containing staple foods for a family of four, or one household
cleanup kit, containing brooms, mops, buckets and other cleaning supplies
· A $100 donation can serve
snacks and drinks for 125 survivors and emergency personnel at the scene of a
disaster
· A $250
donation can provide one hot meal to 100 people or keep a hydration station
operational for 24 hours
· A $500 donation keeps a
Salvation Army canteen (mobile feeding unit) fully operational for one day
The Salvation Army is one of the nation’s largest
providers of disaster service and responds to hundreds of disasters across the
country each year.
· Hurricane Katrina (August
2005): The Salvation Army provided more than 5.6 million meals to survivors and
first responders of Hurricane Katrina, and 2.5 million people were assisted
with emergency food, casework, emotional and spiritual care.
· Haitian Earthquake
(January 2010): The Salvation Army packaged and delivered more than 10 million
meals to Haiti, and more than 27,000 survivorswere treated at Salvation Army
medical facilities. Additionally, The Salvation Army distributed approximately
8,000 hygiene kits.
·
U.S. Tornado Outbreak (April & May 2011): The Salvation Army served nearly
one million meals and distributed 50,000 hygiene kits, and more than 10,000
people received emotional and spiritual care.
Salvation Army
Statements
Major George Hood, National Community Relations &
Development Secretary
·
“The Salvation Army is mobilized and ready to serve.”
· “Our mobile feeding
units and staff are strategically positioned and already beginning to serve at
shelter locations throughout the East Coast.”
Major James
LaBoessiere, Divisional Commander, Northern New England Division
· “We are taking
Hurricane Sandy very seriously and have alerted our personnel to be ready to
move quickly to the areas where they are most needed.”
Major
Donald Hostetler, Divisonal Commander, Empire State (New York) Division
· “We have assigned
staff to serve at our Incident Command Center which will be housed at our
division headquarters in Dewitt, New York (outside of Syracuse). We are
centrally located in New York and will be able to direct operations whether it
is in the east or western part of New York State.”
###
About The Salvation Army
The Salvation
Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in
London in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without
discrimination for more than 130 years in the United States. Nearly 30 million
Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the
broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the
hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to
the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for
underprivileged children. 82 cents of every dollar The Salvation Army spends is
used to support those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. For more
information, go to www.salvationarmyusa.org.
*A one-time
donation of $10 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your
prepaid balance. Message & Data Rates May Apply. All charges are billed by
and payable to your mobile service provider. Service is available on Verizon
Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and TMobile. By participating you certify that you
agree to the terms and conditions, that you are 18 yrs. or older, or have
parental permission, and have authorization from the account holder. Donations
are collected for the benefit of The Salvation Army by the Innovative Giving
Foundation and subject to the terms found at igfn.org/t. Privacy policy: igfn.org/p. Text STOP to 80888 to stop; Text HELP to 80888
for help.