PRESS RELEASE: The Salvation Army Goes into Galveston with Strike Team, Feeds Thousands

Devastation Surprises Volunteers, Staff

Galveston, Texas (September 14, 2008) – You can’t tell where the water ends. Miles and miles of Gulf water has come into neighborhoods. Boats are scattered like tinker toys along I-45, the only thoroughfare that connects Houston to Galveston. Hurricane debris is strewn along the highways, giving the impression of sand dunes.

“The devastation is heart-wrenching,” said Captain Brett Meredith, The Salvation Army officer assigned to Texas Military Forces (Strike Team).

Captain Meredith along with two Salvation Army canteens (mobile kitchens) drove into Galveston with Texas Military Forces Saturday afternoon. The canteens were stationed at the state command center and Ball High School and fed more than 1,200 first responders and evacuees Saturday evening. In Galveston, The Salvation Army is expected to feed more than 3,000 people on Sunday.

Additional Salvation Army resources are being deployed Sunday morning to Houston and Galveston. The Salvation Army is expecting a fleet of more than 70 canteens, field kitchens and other disaster equipment to come into Texas within the next few days.

A staging area set up at Port San Antonio, the former Kelly Air Force Base, will be moved to the Houston area on Sunday (Sept 14). Juan Gomez, a disaster employee from McAllen, Tex., said he was surprised by all the devastation in Galveston.

Gomez was deployed to Peru last year for the Lima earthquake and said Hurricane Ike did comparable damage. “The buildings here are just torn apart – from the rooftops to the hinges on the door,” he said. “It’s so sad. People had warning, but it didn’t matter. Their preparation wasn’t enough.”

In the short-term aftermath of the storm, Salvation Army officers and staff will focus primarily on the immediate needs of disaster survivors and first-responders, providing food, hydration, shelter, and comfort for impacted individuals and families.

The Salvation Army asks people who want to help those affected by the recent tropical cyclones to visit www.salvationarmyusa.org or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY. Monetary donations are needed to meet survivors’ most immediate needs. A $100 donation will feed a family of four for two days and will provide two cases of drinking water and one household cleanup kit (containing brooms, mops, buckets and cleaning supplies). The Salvation Army currently is not accepting donations of clothing and furniture for storm victims; however, please continue supporting your local Salvation Army thrift store and the much needed programs your in-kind gifts support.