Fast Facts - Assistance to date

Salvation Army personnel throughout the Gulf Coast have mobilized to respond to Hurricane Gustav. The Salvation Army has already begun to serve evacuees, and first responders including bus drivers and National Guard troops. It is prepared to respond immediately following potential landfall to serve the immediate needs of first responders and survivors by providing shelter, food, water, ice, cleaning supplies, baby supplies, and hygiene products.
To date:

• The Salvation Army is prepared to feed 560,000 meals each day.
• The Salvation Army already has served nearly 100,000 hot meals, sandwiches, snacks & drinks.
• The Salvation Army has 170 Mobile Feeding Units (Canteens), 2 Field Kitchens, capable of producing 20,000 hot meals per day (each) serving or ready to deploy to the many areas affected.
• The Salvation Army has stockpiled 50,000 Cleaning Kits (Broom, bucket, mop & detergent) for distribution.
• The Salvation Army will minister Pastoral Care to individuals upon request.
• The Salvation Army will provide social service assistance to individuals and families.
• The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) is activated and ready to receive inquiries to reconnect evacuees with their loved ones.
• Salvation Army officers, employees and volunteers will serve in two weeks shifts before reinforcements are rotated in an ongoing basis.
• The Salvation Army’s long-term recovery operation is still operating three years after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 spurred The Salvation Army’s the largest natural disaster response effort in the United States in its 128-year history.
  

The Salvation Army’s disaster response activities are supported entirely through the generosity of individual and organizational donations. In the early stages of a disaster such as this, the Army acts first on faith to meet the immediate needs of those affected by the storms and responses in hopes that donations will follow to fund a sustained disaster response and recovery operation.

Please note: The Salvation Army is currently unable to accept gifts-in-kind due to logistical challenges of sorting, boxing, palletizing and shipping into a disaster site. At the onset of any disaster, financial donations are key to enabling a fast and targeted emergency response. Financial donations also enable us to bolster the affected community’s local economy.

About The Salvation Army:
The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for 128 years in the United States. Nearly 29 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. About 83 cents of every dollar raised is used to support those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. For more information, go to www.salvationarmyusa.org.

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Full statistical information was incomplete at the time of publication. mdh 8/31/08