• Jennifer Byrd

Native Son Returns to Oklahoma with Salvation Army Tornado Relief

Moore, OK (May 30, 2013) - People are moved for many reasons to volunteer with The Salvation Army. For Brad McMullan, an Oklahoma native, it wasn’t just because he wanted to help those in his home state. He also had a very special reason – The Salvation Army ministered to his father after the Oklahoma bombing in 1995.

McMullan, a graduate of Norman High School and Oklahoma University arrived in Moore from Jackson, Mississippi on Thursday, May 23 and has been volunteering as part of The Salvation Army’s Emotional Spiritual Care (ESC) team. This army of Christian soldiers has been walking through the tornado ravaged areas of Moore, Shawnee and Little Axe, providing hope and prayers for those who have lost everything. One bright spot McMullan said was sharing words of prayer with a man whose dog was thrown 250 yards by the storm, but had survived.

The Salvation Army was at the Plaza Towers School almost 15 minutes after the storm hit, said McMullan.

“And now it’s almost a week after the storm, and people really need prayer,” said McMullan. “Folks are beginning to understand that their homes were destroyed. That the lives they once knew are no more.”

In addition to serving on the ESC team, McMullan is helping out at one of two of The Salvation Army’s distribution centers, where people affected by the storm can find basic necessities like water, diapers, paper towels or even items of clothing. He also attended The Salvation Army’s moving church service Sunday in the Moore community. Basically, McMullan is willing to help with whatever needs doing.

When he is not busy volunteering with The Salvation Army in Oklahoma, McMullan serves as chairman of The Salvation Army’s Advisory Board in Jackson, Mississippi. An Emmy- award reporter, he worked as a local anchor when Katrina hit and remembers the rapid, thorough and long term by The Salvation Army.

Even though McMullan is incredibly busy working as CEO of his company bfac.com and textingleader.com  - the two technology companies own or operate more than 120 websites or domains – he decided he needed to take off time from his bustling company to serve others alongside The Salvation Army.

“The Salvation Army is the first in and one of the last to leave,” he said. “And people remember who they see first and who they see last.”