The Salvation Army of NC-VA Responds to Irene on Mid-Atlantic Coast

Charlotte, NC (August 27, 2011)– Salvation Army personnel throughout the Carolinas are responding to Hurricane Irene which experts say will continue to slowly move up the Mid-Atlantic Coastline with damaging winds, flooding rains, and deadly storm surge. Currently, The Salvation Army has 22 mobile feeding kitchen canteens staged, preparing and serving meals as well as emotional and spiritual support to sheltered evacuees and first responders.  Mobile feeding canteens are capable of serving over 1,000 meals per day.  

While still waiting for Hurricane Irene to pass and allow for the safe movement of response teams, The Salvation Army has responded to inland shelters providing more than 3,000 meals, snacks and drinks, sheltered 192 individuals, engaged 60 volunteers and provided spiritual care and emotional support to nearly 240 individuals.  The Salvation Army is presently feeding at 12 shelters including Rocky Mount, Elizabeth City and Morehead City. 

Major Willis Howell, Divisional Commander for The Salvation Army of the Carolinas, states “The Salvation Army began feeding and sheltering on Friday and has been steadily increasing our services as Irene passes and we are able to move closer.  We have been quickly moving resources and teams from South Carolina to the North Carolina coast as Irene spared the area from severe damage.  We know this is going to be a long recovery process and The Salvation Army is dedicated to needs of North Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic Coast.”

Throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, Salvation Army officers and resources have been deployed from Washington, DC, central Virginia and the western part of the Commonwealth to assist the Hampton Roads region with its response to Irene’s touchdown.  At the close of the day on Friday, August 26, The Salvation Army Tidewater Area Command and surrounding Salvation Army offices have provided lodging for 137 individuals, provided 254 meals and Salvation Army volunteers have logged nearly 100 hours.

Upon Irene making landfall and moving through the Hampton Roads region, The Salvation Army will work with local municipalities and other organizations to dispatch its 4 mobile canteens the accessible areas of greatest need.

Salvation Army mobile feeding units are currently positioned in the following Carolina areas:

• Elizabeth City (with mobile feeding canteen support from Greensboro and Charleston)
• Greenville (with mobile feeding canteen support from Georgetown and Conway)
• Goldsboro (with mobile feeding canteen support from Raleigh and Fayetteville)
• Jacksonville (with mobile feeding canteen support from Sumter)
• Morehead City (with mobile feeding canteen support from Waynesville, Winston Salem)
• New Bern (with mobile feeding canteen support from Beaufort SC)
• Rocky Mount (with mobile feeding canteen support from Anderson)
• Washington (with mobile feeding canteen support from Greenville SC)
• Wilmington (with mobile feeding canteen support from Charlotte and the Marine Corps League Disaster Response Unit 1)
• 10 additional mobile feeding canteen units from Georgia and the Salvation Army’s Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi Division (ALM) will arrive at The Salvation Army’s Camp Walter Johnson in Denton NC.  They will be dispatched to the Carolina coast on August 28 and 29

The best way to help storm victims and relief workers is to make a financial contribution. Monetary donations allow disaster responders to immediately meet the specific needs of disaster survivors. 

The Salvation Army asks people who want to help those affected by Hurricane Irene to visit www.salvationarmycarolinas.orgor call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).  Donors may also contribute $10 via their phone bill by text messaging the word STORM to 80888, and confirming the donation with the word, “Yes.”   Checks may be made out to The Salvation Army Disaster Relief,PO BOX 1959 Atlanta, GA 30301.  Please designate “Hurricane 2011” on all checks.  

• 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

At this point, in-kind donations are not being accepted.  Used clothing and used furniture are seldom required during an incident.  However, these gifts are vitally important in 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).

 For the latest emergency disaster services news, please www.salvationarmycarolinas.org,

 www.disaster.salvationarmyusa.organd follow the EDS team on Twitter @SalArmyEDS. 

#  #  #

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.salvationarmycarolinas.org.