FEMA Administrator Visits as The Salvation Army Serves 12,000 Meals in SE Texas

Dallas, Texas (August 30, 2020) – Mobile kitchens from The Salvation Army of Texas served 12,000 meals in SE Texas and Lake Charles, LA, to residents affected by Hurricane Laura on Saturday. 14 teams of Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) staff and volunteers worked tirelessly throughout an extremely hot and humid day to serve hot meals to those in need.

FEMA Directors, including FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor, visited a location in Orange County, TX, on Saturday where a Salvation Army mobile kitchen was preparing to serve lunch. “The Salvation Army works very closely with FEMA during times of disaster and we are thrilled that the FEMA staff saw our mobile kitchen team in action,” said Alvin Migues, Director of The Salvation Army Disaster Services for Texas. The FEMA Administrator grabbed a piece of paper during the visit and wrote down the number for affected individuals and families to call for assistance. The number, 1-800-621-3362, was posted inside the message board of the mobile kitchen for all to see. “The Salvation Army is one part of the response effort and works with FEMA, other government agencies, and many local disaster partners. These relationships are key to the success of any response effort and we appreciate the support of FEMA.” The number for FEMA assistance is now posted to each Salvation Army mobile kitchen.

Saturday was the first day of meal service by The Southern Baptist Texas Convention kitchen as part of Hurricane Laura response. The commercial-size kitchen and serving area is set up on the basketball pavilion at The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club in Beaumont. Mobile kitchens drive through the serving area and crews load the hot food, packed in heat sealing cambros, directly onto each vehicle. The kitchen prepared 5,000 hot meals for distribution on Saturday and it is anticipated that production will ramp up to 10,000 meals each day in the coming week.

The Salvation Army is serving food in the following fixed locations:

• Bridge City – Market Basket: 2005 Texas Ave Bridge City, TX
• Port Arthur – Sam Houston Elementary: 3245 36th Port Arthur, TX
• Orange Corps – 1950 MLK Drive Orange, TX
• Vidor – 114 W. Bolivar St, Vidor TX
• Jasper/Newton – Newton Church/Food Bank, 501 Main Street, Newton, TX
• Deweyville High School – 171 TX-12, Deweyville, TX (TX-12 & HWY 87)
• Huntsville Shelter – HEARTS Veterans Museum: 463 State Highway 75 N, Huntsville, TX

The Salvation Army has served 18,481 meals, 16,270 drinks, 6,608 snacks in affected communities in Southeast Texas since the response effort to Hurricane Laura began on Friday.

The best way to support the disaster work of The Salvation Army by making a financial donation at www.helpsalvationarmy.org or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY. For the latest information please go to www.disaster.salvationarmyusa.org and watch for regular updates on our social media pages at www.facebook.com/salvationarmytexas/ and www.twitter.com/salarmytx.